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Indepth Arts News:
"Soft: Curated by Debbie Hesse"
2002-11-26 until 2003-02-01
Artspace New Haven
New Haven, CT,
USA United States of America
SOFT brings together the work of artists employing diverse strategies and materials in
which the concept of softness is integral to their work. Notions of fragility and strength,
material/immateriality, absence/presence are some of the themes that arise from this group
Featuring works by: James Clark, Eric Conrad, Joseph Fucigna, Anne George,
Sarah Gjertson, Ron Janowich, Clint Jukkala, Jane Miller, Amy Punckak, Orit
Raff, Janice Redman, Mary Temple, Leo Villareal and Dina Weiss James Clark, Leo Villareal, and Mary Temple create meditative works exploring spatial and
temporal ideas through light and movement. Clark’s vertical hanging plastic containers
inflate via motion detectors, soliciting viewer interaction. In Villareal’s light sculpture, subtle
shifts in light and color, achieved through programmed numerical sequences are manifest
as pulsating light. And Temple’s sprawling acrylic polymer wall painting explores the
relationship between the corporeal and spiritual.
Janice Redman, Eric Conrad, Sarah Gjerston, Dina Weiss, Amy Punchak and Jane Miller
embrace fabric, as membrane, protective covering, or drawing tool. Conrad’s clustered
figurative vignettes, crudely sewn from muslin and fabric scraps explore the complex
psychological relationships between couples and groups. Miller creates whimsical and
George’s c-prints
reference the human form, as wisps of hair, fur, and transparent membranes blend ideas of
abstraction with the figure and landscape. Gjertson creates an inflatable floor sculpture,
constructed in the form of a mattress from military-issue fabrics, and patterned after the
American flag, questioning ideas of personal and national comfort. Comfort and security are
examined as well in Punchak’s window installation where a fabric garden of lace cakes and
dense plant life lies over a mulch of broken plate shards.
Joseph Fucigna, Dina Weiss and Janice Redman soften hard materials, gaining clarity and
strength through juxtapositions. Fucigna reconfigures industrial materials like deer netting
and construction fencing into soft paintings evoking the delicacy of tulle or lace. Weiss’s
yarn drawings and knitted sculpture refer to architectural pattern and detail. And Redman
mummifies objects she is intimately connected to in muslin, rendering them useless.
IMAGES:
TOP - Anne George, Pom 4
MIDDLE - Clint Jukkala, Unitiled
BOTTOM - Leo Villareal, Open Air
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