Installation Views of Objectified

So, I've finally had a moment to sit down and get this post up since returning from D.C. I had a great time in Washington, Honfleur was a wonderful gallery to work with, and the people from ARCH (a nonprofit, and Honflers parent company) were so helpful and friendly. I also kindof fell in love with the neighborhood of Anacostia, which is a historic neighborhood south of the river in D.C. Although Anacostia has a little bit of a bad reputation, as far as I can tell, it's unwarranted. There is a wonderful arts and revitalization movement going on in the area, and it really shows... it doesn't have a static feel at all, but you can actually feel Anacostia buzz and hum with energy and forward movement.

I've included images below of the final installation, which I'm really happy with. Briony Evans, the creative director and Honfleur, and Beth Ferraro, the creative director for the Gallery at Vivid Solutions, were phenomenal and the show wouldn't have been quite as successful with out their help.

Installation view, right of gallery

Installation view, left of gallery

Robert Longyear: Neckpiece installation view

Jeanne Jo: If A Mouth Were To Whisper... and accompanying photo

Colleen Heineman: Sorted Conglomerates

Andrea Miller: Peripheral System #4 and accompanying photo

Brightest Young Things hypes OBJECTIFIED

The Washington DC based arts and culture blog, Brightest Young Things, has included an article on their website about Objectified. Their writers came to Honfleur Gallery this week for a preview of the show, and to do a behind the scenes interview about the objective of the exhibition.

I think that it was a challenging exhibition to write a synopsis about on the fly, and I think that BYT ended up writing a pretty good article, although I wish that it discussed the artists concepts a little more precisely. I'm just glad that they took the time to come to the gallery to check out the show.

You can read the article here.

FROM THE RENWICK GALLERY: Gari Melcher's The Bride from 1907.

Field Trip to JewelersWerk Galerie

So, we've been working hard to install the show at Honfleur Gallery, and it's looking great! Although the opening is tomorrow, after making a list of all the tasks that we have left to address, we decided that we had enough time to take the afternoon off and head over to visit JewelersWerk Galerie.

JewelersWerk is a tiny exhibition space nestled into Cady's Alley, just off of M Street in Georgetown. The gallery is extremely well designed, and features endless display drawers filled with jewelry made by some of today's most prominent makers. Currently on display is the work of Esther Knobel, a Polish born Israeli artist who has been recently honored with the Andrea M. Bronfman Prize for outstanding Israeli Decorative Arts.

Knobel's work features enameling, electroformed copper, and other avant sculptural processes with more traditionally recognized jewelry making techniques such as stringing pearls and bead work. I really likes her work, especially the color scheme and the pairing together of contrasting design elements. I also fell in love with the way that her work references organic origins and inspirations.

Esther's display was also beautifully informal and visually accessible to the viewer. Her pieces were laid out on unstretched canvas, with titles written directly on the fabric and walls. I ended up buying her book, The Mind in the Hand, and can't wait to dive into it and investigate her studio practice a little more.

I've attached a couple images of the gallery, in all it's compact glory.

Objectified sneak preview: Colleen Heineman

Colleen Heineman is part scientist. She investigates, analyzes, sorts, charts, decodes, and reconstitutes information into art objects that reflect her concepts and processes. I'm really drawn to Colleens' artistic process, her methods of investigating and understanding her materials lead to a creative relationship where the artist acts as a catalyst, initiating the metamorphosis of her concepts. The results after the transformation: totem like sculptures that pay homage to an in-depth system of documentation and visual exploration.

The alchemy of Colleens' scientific approach has yielded and increadible group of copper sculptures, Sorted Conglomerates. This body of work articulates observations on consumer culture, identity, and personal clutter. This set of work is really phenomenal, and I am particularly interested in the ideas of artist as facilitator, catalyst, and composer that are referenced in these works. These pieces also visually reference natural land formations and tectonic masses.

I appreciate Colleens' meticulous way of working, and how she has committed herself to creating physical mementos that reflect her concepts. The Sorted Conglomerates will also be on display with an accompanying set of schematic drawings which reference the arduous process the Colleen undertakes in her making process.

As an aside, how amazing to these copper pieces look!?! The craftsmanship is amazing!

Objectified sneak preview: Andrea Miller

Andrea Miller has just completed her Masters program at University of Wisconsin, Madison with a degree in Art Metals. Her most recent body of work, Peripheral Systems, Parts 1-5, is a series of necklaces that compare elements of our constructed environment with the human body.

Her wearable sculptures reference commonplace elements of our environment: spigot handles, duct work, or HVAC piping. All of these industrial elements are objects which we have become de-sensitized to; allowing them to infiltrate our modern existence with our dependency upon them.

These elements which Andrea focuses on were originally purposed for function and practicality. Despite their utilitarian origins, Andrea has managed to find beauty and pleasure in exploring her source materials, and I am glad to have her work included in Objectified. Her pieces are miniature replicas of the most unromantic industrial components, talismans honoring the unacknowledged architectural elements that we utilize every single day. I especially appreciate Andreas decision to move these sculptures onto the body, it seems to help translate the original source materials into the realm of the domestic more easily, and also provides and unexpected pedestal for the work.

Objectified sneak preview: Robert Longyear

It's no secret that I've had an art-crush on Robert Longyear's work for quite a while now. And maybe the theme for Objectified was a little of an excuse to have an opportunity to see his work in real life, who knows. Regardless of my motivations, I am excited to have him participating in Objectified, his work will definitely add unique perspective to the dialogue of the show.

His pieces are conglomerations of disenfranchised objects, using neglected structures as his source materials. In this way, he is able to reveal the hidden construction of deteriorating buildings, provide the viewer with a new method of perceiving space, and creates metaphors for the human condition.

The conglomerate objects made of industrial detritus are steeped in concepts of lapsed history, time, neglect, and fate. They also seem to become bodily, referencing lace-like internal organs; making the viewers relationship to them that much more intimate.

Another Love Lock!

The lovely, and newly-wed, Richard and Wendi have commemorated their love for one another by putting a love lock up at the designated spot in India Point Park! They used an antique padlock that Wendi had been saving for a special art project, and considering how attached she was to it, I'm really honored that she contributed it to this! After they hung their lock, they walked down to the water, and tossed the key into Narragansett Bay... high-fives ensued.

Having just attended their wedding, I was especially excited to have them want to do it! Now they're both off to Madison for Richards work, so it'll be nice to have a little reminder of them here in Rhode Island.

I really should get on that invitation that I've been promising... And, I will, I swear! Until then, I hope you'll get over to India Point Park and put up a lock of your own!

Objectified Super Sneek Preview

This past week I had the opportunity to see a newly finished piece by Jeanne Jo, one of the very talented artists participating in the show that I'm curating, Objectified. I have always been a fan of Jeanne Jo's work, but the piece that she created for Objectified is truly phenomenal. She had just finished it the morning that she delivered it to me, and it's pretty astounding.

Her piece, If a Mouth were to Whisper, is the opening phrase from a treasured love letter that was sent to her by someone who has since passed away. Jeannie transcribed the text from the letter into an alpha-numerically crocheting pattern. The result is a textile piece whose subtle patterns are a direct result of the transcription. The delicate holes that pattern the piece reference both piano paper from player pianos and an aged memento of moth eaten lace.

I am excited to have If a Mouth were to Whisper in the show; the intimate quality of this craft-rooted piece will compliment the metal work in the show. The image to the right is documentation of the piece, which is easily over 100 feet long and took approximately 50 hours to complete. This piece just exudes feelings of memory, comfort, vulnerability, and attentiveness. I really appreciate the pliability of the work, and how it both interacts with the body in a loving/cocoon like manner and simultaneously drags behind with excess physical and conceptual weight.

Opening at Alloy Gallery

So, as it turns out, I'll be showing some new work that I've made at Alloy Gallery. The opening will be on Thursday, June 10th at Alloy Gallery on Spring Street in Newport, Rhode Island.

Alloy is a phenomenal contemporary art gallery, which primarily displays the work of local artists. Despite a location which you may think lends itself to more conventional works, Alloy is truly an oasis of smartly designed and extremely well articulated pieces of jewelry and art objects. The owner, Tamar Kern, has done a great job filling the contemporary jewelry niche in Rhode Island.

From my experience, I have found her to be a very encouraging gallerist. She goes out of her way to work with emerging artists and designers, helping to create a more confident group of makers by providing a proactive gallery experience.

Clearly, I adore her and Alloy! So, I'm very excited to have the opportunity to show with her, and to get a response on the new pieces I've been working on.

The image at the right is of a template that I sent to the laser cutter earlier this week. I can't wait to get the real pieces back and to see how the computer files that I've been slaving over transform into objects!