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Sneak Preview of our coming show Big Wide World! (Oct. 3 - Oct. 31 2007) |
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Sneak Preview of our coming show Big Wide World! (Oct. 3 - Oct. 31 2007) |
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I work
both as a sculptor, printer and papermaker using the human form and
relationships as my subject matter. The sculpture is primarily constructed in wood with the addition of other mixed media for example, metal, thread and glass. They are narrow vertical structures either constructed or carved with the surfaces treated by painting, staining or burning. Sculptures, with their central core bracketed by mirror image elements, resemble the construction of the human form whereas others resemble body organs and fibers displaying swellings and growths, the contents of some escape to invade the base support of the work. |
The works
on paper are either framed in shadow boxes which become an integral part
of the piece or are combined with other elements to create
installations, usually in small spaces such as alcoves or closets. I use
a variety of commonly found household items, photographs,scissors,
needles, pins, thread, sewing patterns and constructed furniture. Some
of these are incorporated into handmade paper others are used as
instruments for the installations. My recent works have been comments on social issues and my uneasiness for the environment in which our children today are being raised. |
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| My current series of Mandalas address the social pressures under which we live, our continual struggle for perfection, Mandalas for the Perpetual Dieter and Perfect Face, and our obsessions ,Mandala for the Dedicated Shopper. A small clockwork construction, Merry-Go- Round, looks at the problem of young girls who are coming of age in an American culture that celebrates dress, beauty and popularity at the expense of nearly everything else. Also Large room and closet installations relate to the fact that over the passed decade there has been a growing concern over the safety of our children in places and institutions which before we deemed as secure, notably the church, our schools and the local playground. It seems increasingly obvious that these areas warrant our constant surveillance. | ||
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Title: My Space I Medium: Handmade paper, Xerox transfer, metal. Dimensions:
32" X 15"
X 10" |
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Title: My Space III Medium: Handmade paper, Xerox transfer, metal. Dimensions: 12" X 6" X 4"
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Jenny Ham
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My recent body
of work incorporates various media including video, installation and
performance in order to tackle the complexities and layers of my
Korean-Canadian background. As such, my identity as an Asian woman is
inescapable. The journey to find a middle ground between my birthplace
and this Western context has been a constant struggle. The body then,
becomes a tool to interweave these shifts and changes. By fusing
elements of home, nostalgia and memory, I create a space where the past,
present and future occur simultaneously. I am influenced by how art,
theory and the everyday, overlap, intersect and contradict. In this way,
my work can be seen as a context in which both the archetypal and
personal construct the collective experience. |
There are many dichotomies that exist within my work, landscape and urban(scape), the natural and the artificial, the center and the periphery. More specifically however, I am interested in how these parallel representations are read historically in relation to Modernism and contemporary art practices. The physical location of one’s place serves to transform one’s identity. Social and cultural alienation are some of the ramifications of contemporary existence. As such, I am interested in exploring the underside of the American vernacular by combining everyday life and theatricality. My work attempts to question the role of presentation, more specifically the position of the viewer in relation to an artwork. The principle concern is to portray a scene that is a consciously contrived using reality as it presents itself to my own subjectivity - one that is by no means concerned with reproducing the outside world in an empirically accurate sense, rather one that exists within my own fantasy. | |
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Although my choice of media is constantly changing from work to work,
the social and cultural critiques remain consistent. What is at stake is
the visibility or revealing of the “subject”. The role of representation
realized entirely through a self-reflexive approach is for me a means to
reflect on and study other constructs that I have realized through the
production of art. A critique of representation occurs in the process of
investigating notions of the self. As a result, the point of reference
in my work derives from my own experiences combined with an interest in
Western artistic practices particularly in the painting tradition. Using
this as a point of departure, I attempt to deconstruct Western ideology
by carving out a space where I can become a part of that history. The
problem of alienation and displacement often lies within the boundaries
of nature and culture. It is within this space, where the poetic and
transgressive qualities of my work come together. |
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Title: Tract Medium: Video DVD Running Time: 5 Minutes |
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Nancy Rakoczy
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The shroud is 12" x 32" and made of hand knit plastic, yarn and gold thread. The plastic strips are from shredded dry cleaner bags, and symbolize the mundane nature of our shrouds, while the gold thread is chosen for those things in our lives woven with the worthless that makes our personal, spiritual shrouds so difficult to give up. I chose to combine the materials with knitting for its feminine connotations. I deliberately chose to make an object that isn't beautiful, as a reflection of the misunderstandings we often have about ourselves. Look closely and notice the wrapping is far from perfect: there are holes. This reflects the holes in our own logic with which we create these personal shrouds. * Rakoczy, S. "Creating Space for Faith to Flourish: Intersections of Feminist Christology and Ecclesiology." Questions Liturgiques Studies in Liturgy. 86 (2005): 232-254. |
There are different facets to this piece. On one hand, there is a sacred
aspect to this object, as it is also a tool that has been used in
rituals, and like other sacred tools, it too has been used for the
purpose of performance and healings. Its main purpose is not to sit in a
gallery, but to be used. The shroud has a shamanistic character in that
it evokes a discarded snake skin, rather than is part of a traditional
liturgy. The shroud is a part of a new feminist spirituality which seeks to create healing rituals where there is none. This feminist spirituality rejects seeking understanding through experience solely in the abstract, and only with the rational mind. "Women's rituals are distinctive in their use of the body, affectivity, creativity and the arts."* The shroud from Unwrapping Lazarus is meant to be used to connect and heal using the intuitive means within ourselves, others and God's grace. |
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Title: Shroud: Unwrapping Lazarus Medium: Hand knit plastic, yarn and gold thread. Dimensions:
12" X 32" |
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Cartography is the foundation I use to discover, interpret and reveal the world from a new point of view. In the past few years, I have been exploring global issues through my personal bicultural lens. My drawings, paintings, collages and sculptures address issues of new identities, communication routes and world interactions, as well as describe the ever-increasing combination of cultures through reconfiguring and recontextualizing different elements from around the world. I use diverse imagery appropriated from traditional symbols, patterns, foliage, insects, sea life, bodies of water, tectonic plates and the reinvention of maps to create imaginary and fragmented landscapes.
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My work is a representation of both the abstract elements of my history, and the physical elements of my childhood. The work also explores global concerns, such as how the world is becoming an interdependent society where cultures are being created and traditional borders are shifting or disappearing altogether. These works, which are in a sense map mutations, are greatly affected by where I create them. Much of the imagery is derived from my travels and the connections I make with the new surroundings. I build these pieces by overlapping outlines of maps and motifs specific to particular cultures and tribes then breaking and distorting them to create new forms. My processes of drawing, erasing, leaving marks, adding and removing paper, moving and layering images are conspicuous in the work. Moreover, I do not underestimate the power and sensuality of color and the way visual opulence can connect the viewer to the work's emotional base. I strive to engage both the intellect and the emotional circuits---a reaction of the nervous system, perhaps, is what I am striving for in the midst of creating these imagined worlds. |
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Title: Before The Parting Medium: Graphite, pigment and marker on Mylar. Dimensions:
16" X 16"
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Title: 7 Parts of the Whole Medium: Graphite, marker, watercolor & paper on Mylar. Dimensions:
24" X 10"
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Sam Still
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Title: 2006-S9 Medium: Plastic caps with stainless steel screws on 3/8 in. plywood ground. Dimensions:
36"
x 60" x 70"
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Injoo Whang
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My work starts from small parts of strings, wires, and papers materials, which are percieved to be 'humble' or 'fragile.' I put the parts into the bigger scupture, installation or drawing. Accumulating individual parts in the process of appreciating and empowering those small but important individuals. Labor- intensive and meditative work process helps transform fragile materials into quiet but powerful energy and creates spiritual atmosphere around them. I am also interested in the reconstructed or reintergrated images. I cut out the images or objects and put them into a different image. When something is broken apart and put back together it creates very different integrity but the newly created image still remains a history of the broken parts. |
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Title: Untitled Medium: Ink on paper. Dimensions:
19" X 19"
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Gallery, All Rights Reserved
