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Indepth Arts News:
"Erika Wanenmacher: Grimoire"
2001-03-31 until 2001-05-27
SITE Santa Fe
Santa Fe, NM,
USA United States of America
SITE Santa Fe presents ERIKA WANENMACHER: GRIMOIRE, a large-scale installation designed especially for SITE Santa Fe. For GRIMOIRE, Erika Wanenmacher presents an exhibition of personal spell-making; a journey of gathering and storing magic.
In a preliminary exhibition description, Erika writes,
Although the term grimoire usually denotes
a traditional encyclopedia of western magic,
this show really describes my own personal
territory of art-making. Several years ago I
realized that what I was constructing
--physically and mentally -- were spells. My
favorite definition of magic comes from Dion
Fortune who declares it the art of changing
consciousness at will. In considering my
work as spells, the most important aspect is
the intent. It is imperative to be clear. What do I
want this spell to doNULL The intent is out in front
of any action. As a storyteller, if I can get my
story (intent) across, then I have acted upon
the consciousness of the viewer. Magic.
In her exhibition, Erika Wanenmacher will show both early
two- and three-dimensional pieces and newer installation
work made especially for SITE Santa Fe. She will present a
large installation featuring her car -- a 1972 Volvo station
wagon with a Chevy 350 engine that runs on propane -- in the
middle of a 16 foot pentacle sand painting, covered with a net
held by 5 large cast aluminum heads. The heads, (a
recurring image in her work and based on the likeness of
Erika and the Aztec goddess Teoloztatl), will hold the ends of
the net clamped in their teeth. The car will be loaded with
pieces of art packed in found boxes. On the walls will be 4
videos, each one representing a different element (earth, air,
fire, water).
The exhibition will also feature light boxes, showing x-rays of
the box pieces in the car and individual sculptures that are
magical tools; including a trickster box containing raven and
coyote arms; a post-apocalyptic travelling magic tool set; and
a giant necklace of the Hindu goddess Kali.
Erika Wanenmacher is a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based artist
who works in multi-media. She has attended the Feminist
Studio Workshop, The Woman's Building in Los Angeles,
California and the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City,
Missouri. Ms. Wanenmacher has been involved in many
one-person exhibitions including Terrible Beauty,
Tangibles, Storyteller, Grace, and Buzz at Linda Durham
Contemporary Art, Galisteo, New Mexico; and Devotionals at
Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, California. She has
also participated in numerous group exhibitions around the
world including Contemporary Botanica, Tweed Museum,
Duluth, Minnesota; Ship from the Desert, The Moorings
Project, Schiffbauergasse, Potsdam, Germany; El Mundo
Del Arte De Nuevo Mexico, Guadalajara, Mexico; and Edgy:
Five Contemporary Northern New Mexico Artists, Coconino
Art Center, Flagstaff, Arizona.
IMAGE:
Erika Wanenmacher
Trickster Box, open, 2001
wood box, plaster, paint,
taxidermy eyes, raven feathers, glass, fabric
12 x 30 x 9 inches
Courtesy of the artist and
Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Galisteo
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