2020 SMFA at Tufts MFA Thesis Catalog: "As Above, So Below"

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AS ABOVE SO BELOW

MASTER OF FINE ARTS 2020 SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY

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AS ABOVE SO BELOW

SMFA AT T UF T S Erica Ancrum, Program Coordinator, Graduate Programs Nancy Bauer, Dean, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Lisa Bynoe, Associate Director of Graduate Programs Robert Cook, Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Jeannie Simms, Director of Graduate Studies, Master of Fine Arts Program

GR ADUAT E ADVISOR S 2019 — 2020 Mark Cooper, Sculpture Bonnie Donohue, Photography Jane Gillooly, Film and Video Patte Loper, Painting and Drawing Megan McMillan, Sculpture Ethan Murrow, Painting and Drawing Jennifer Schmidt, Print, Paper, & Graphic Arts Department John Schulz, Print, Paper, & Graphic Arts Department Jeannie Simms, Photography Mary Ellen Strom, Media Arts

ON LEAV E 2019 — 2020 Danielle Abrams, Performance

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TUFTS UNIVERSIT Y ART GALLERIES Dina Deitsch, Director and Chief Curator

AIDEKMAN ARTS CENTER Elizabeth Canter, Manager of Academic Programs Joshua Fischer, Exhibitions Coordinator Kaelynn Maloney, Department & Curatorial Assistant Laura McDonald, Manager of Collections Matt Murphy, Preparator Chiara Pidatella, Research Curator Tony Palocci, Associate Collections Registrar

SMFA AT T UF T S Kaitlyn Clark, Exhibitions Coordinator Abigail Satinsky, Curator David Thacker, Manager of Exhibitions and Public Programs

ADDITIONAL THANKS Torrey Androski, Director of Development, SMFA at Tufts Benjamin Aron, Studio Manager of the Media Arts Department Lani Asuncion, Studio Manager of the Media Arts Department Caleb Davis, Administrative Director, SMFA at Tufts April Franklin, Mission Hill Fabrication Studio Manager Meredith Stone Giesta, Asst. Director of Marketing & Communications Greg Mahoney, Assistant Director, SMFA Studio Operations Christopher Maliga, Studio Manager of Photography Amanda Rowley, Director of Marketing & Communications Ariana Shirzadi, Senior Communications Specialist

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FOREWORD 7KH FODVV RI DUULYHG LQ WKH IDOO RI DV %UHWW .DYDQDXJK EHJDQ FRQâUPDWLRQ hearings for a Supreme Court appointment and Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack. The United States announced a tariff on goods from China, then China added US products to its own import tariff list; India struck down laws criminalizing KRPRVH[XDOLW\ DQG DGXOWHU\ Å•0LFURVRIW V $]XUH &ORXG ZDV KLW E\ OLJKWQLQJ FDXVLQJ D FRROLQJ SUREOHP DW LWV ,5/ ORFDWLRQ LQ FHQWUDO 7H[DV DQG WKH JOREDOÅ•:DQQD&U\ F\EHUDWWDFN GHPDQGHG UDQVRP SD\PHQWV IURP WKH XVHUV RI WKH FRPSXWHUV DIãLFWHG with the virus. 60)$ DW 7XIWV 0)$ JUDGXDWHV âQLVKHG WKHLU FRXUVHZRUN LQ WKH VSULQJ RI DPLGVW the biggest global news story in recent history. Nations have closed borders, declared VWDWHV RI HPHUJHQFLHV DQG KDOWHG HFRQRPLHV LQ RUGHU WR kãDWWHQ WKH FXUYHw DQG VORZ the spread of the novel coronavirus so that healthcare systems can manage the sick and avoid mass devastation and death. ,Q WKH :RUOG +HDOWK 2UJDQL]DWLRQ VÅ•+HDOWK (YLGHQFH 1HWZRUN D OHDGHU LQ D UDSLGO\ H[SDQGLQJ âHOG RI VWXGLHV FRUUHODWLQJ WKH FRQQHFWLRQ EHWZHHQ DUW DQG SXEOLF health, reported the importance of art to physical and mental well-being. Art making DQG YLHZLQJ FDQ KHOS SHRSOH EH LQ WKH PRPHQW‰WR SURFHVV DQG UHãHFW XSRQ WKH challenges, joys, and everyday experiences of our lives. At the SMFA and in many art programs, the therapeutic facet of art making is not a direct goal. Instead, artists focus on ways that aesthetic innovations can help sharpen the experience of artworks so that viewers know what to look at and are enticed to slow down for close looking. The artists in the graduate program research and expand their subject matter through reading, observing phenomena, studying data, OHDUQLQJ QHZ WRROV DQG PHGLD DQG WHVWLQJ K\SRWKHVHV LQ WKH kODERUDWRULHVw RI WKHLU DUW critique courses. They mount exhibitions allowing their unique and experimental ZRUNV WR FRPPXQLFDWH ZLWK WKH SXEOLF‰WR IRVWHU GLDORJXH H[FKDQJH UHãHFWLRQ and even inspiration. ,Q WKLV WLPH RI FULVLV WKH SDWK IRUZDUG ZRQ W EH VLPSOH 0RUH RI RXU IULHQGV DQG families will become sick. Some communities—particularly people without economic security, people of color, immigrants and undocumented people, and all 6

the elders who built the foundations of our lives—will be at higher risk not only of contracting COVID-19 but of suffering from its social and economic consequences. As artists who are looking forward to this newly uncertain future, you will need to ZRUN ZLWK LQJHQXLW\ ZKLOH FRQWLQXLQJ WR XVH DOO WKH VNLOOV \RX KDYH UHâQHG ,Q \RXU time in the SMFA graduate program, you learned to nurture rich art practices—your own as well as those of your fellow artists and colleagues. You have learned to be supportive neighbors while helping one another in unlikely ways and at all hours of WKH GD\ DQG QLJKW <RX GHYHORSHG LQWLPDFLHV ZLWK VWUDQJHUV \RX GLGQ W DJUHH ZLWK and created works of art, presentations, and exhibitions together. You cultivated trust and respect for one another. You learned to balance solidarity and collaboration with solitude and study. You built endurance for the tedious parts of production and presented arresting artworks with beauty, aplomb, and profound relevance. You shared knowledge, skills, and tools. Inventing your own methodologies, you learned to make work from the germ of a hazy idea all the way to its completion; to mount exhibitions, summarize ideas, and write copy; to manage logistics, invitations, and FRPPXQLFDWLRQV DQG âQDOO\ WR EHDU ZLWQHVV WR RQH DQRWKHU V ZRUN LQ XQLRQ ,Q RQH way or another, you have consistently pulled together. Even while sheltering in place in your homes because of the pandemic, you have remained united through video conferencing, phone calls, text messages, and social media to keep the conversation JRLQJ DQG WKH DUW SURGXFWLRQ ãRZLQJ <RXU SHUVHYHUDQFH LV D VNLOO DQG D PXVFOH WKDW is key to your survival. I hope that you will continue to commune using the tools you KDYH KRQHG WR OHDG RWKHUV ZKR GRQ W \HW KDYH WKRVH WRROV DQG WR FROODERUDWH ZLWK those you admire and from whom you can learn. :H ORRN WR DUW WR EH VKDNHQ DOOXUHG XQUDYHOHG VODSSHG LQ WKH IDFH RU VHUHQDGHG :H ORRN IRU ZD\V WR JOLPSVH WKH XQNQRZDEOH RU EH XQGUHVVHG E\ LQFLVLYH WUXWK WHOOLQJ To be in art school is to be surrounded by a pounding chorus of imaginations. Remember the force of our days, slowly tackling hard questions, monumental problems, and reckless behaviors; joys, pleasures, and delights—and the imaginative fruits that those efforts cultivated. Through the images, objects, situations, and performances that you create, please continue to give the gift of curiosity, openness, DQG LQVLJKW WR \RXU FROOHDJXHV DXGLHQFHV DQG ZRUOG‰DQG WR \RXUVHOYHV Å•

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:LWK WKLV FODVV RI 0)$ JUDGXDWHV RXU VRFLHW\ KDV D EHWWHU FKDQFH IRU PHQWDO DQG physical health and well-being. It has been an honor to work with you. On behalf of the graduate advisors and Master of Fine Arts Program staff, I wish you our deepest congratulations. At the time of this writing, we were forced to postpone a physical exhibition in the Aidekman Arts Center on the Medford campus until a future date and have relocated our thesis show online in order to maintain the rhythm of our academic schedule. I wish to thank Lisa Bynoe, Erica Ancrum, and all the SMFA graduate advisors and WKH 7XIWV 8QLYHUVLW\ $UW *DOOHULHV H[KLELWLRQV VWDII IRU WKHLU WLUHOHVV LQYHQWLRQ DQG dedication during the shelter-in-place conditions of the last third of our semester.

JEANNIE SIMMS Director of Graduate Studies School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University

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MFA MONTAGUE TRAVEL GRANTS SUPPORTED INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH FOR THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS BY MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2020: Cameron Barker traveled to Germany (2019) to research the social policing of intimacy. Mia Fabrizio traveled to Spain (2018) to investigate identity by examining art, history, DUFKHRORJ\ UDFH UHOLJLRQ DQG JHQGHU LQ SDUW RI WKH ZRUOG WKDW KDV EHHQ LQãXHQFHG inhabited, and controlled by many cultures. Mia also traveled to Italy (2019) to investigate WKH FHQWUDO ,WDOLDQ GLDVSRUD DQG LWV FRUUHVSRQGLQJ XVH RI PDWHULDOV DQG LGHDV DERXW kKRPH w Billy Foshay visited London (2019) to expand his research on the mental disorders of depersonalization and derealization (referred to as DPDR). Liz LaPides documented, through photography, the threatened coastlines of Nova Scotia (2019) due to climate change. Sally Lee visited Hong Kong and China (2019) to conduct research that would help KHU IXUWKHU H[SDQG RQ KHU FRQãLFWLQJ LGHQWLWLHV DV D ZHVWHUQL]HG &KLQHVH ZRPDQ combining her personal narrative with the narrative of Hong Kong. John Lehman went on a literary pilgrimage to Japan (2019) to witness the locations of +DUXNL 0XUDNDPL V QRYHO The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles; his thesis project revolves around the novel. Ralph Robinson sailed through the arctic (2019) with the goal of creating an emotional connection to issues related to climate change through his photography. Gil Spears traveled to Italy (2019) to understand the intellectual underpinnings that motivated the development of southern European painting in the Renaissance period. Yixiang Tong WUDYHOHG WR ,WDO\ WR OHDUQ PRUH DERXW :HVWHUQ UHOLJLRQ SDUWLFXODUO\ Catholicism) in order to broaden and deepen the context of her thesis. Karli Tucker studied installations in places “we normally would not think of as artistic VSDFHVw LQ -DSDQ 7KH SV\FKH DV D SK\VLFDO VSDFH LV D WKHPH RI KHU DUW DQG UHVHDUFK 9

E V ERY T H ING CHAN GED 7R SDUDSKUDVH FULWLF 2ULW *DW V UHFHQW FRPPHQWV RQ WKH DUW ZRUOG DQG LWV UHODWLRQVKLS to online engagement, everything has changed. Given our new reality of social GLVWDQFLQJ WKH 6FKRRO RI WKH 0XVHXP RI )LQH $UWV 0)$ FODVV RI LV DPRQJ the last ever to begin a thesis project without having to consider the digital. Accordingly, I approach As Above, So Below as a hybrid exhibition, partially planned for the old world but launched within the new. This is not to say that the works are dated. On the contrary, the seventeen artists presented here are fully invested in the future and offer speculations—formulated well before the pandemic—on how our fractured society might become more equitable. Their works coalesce thematically around an interest in narrative, in revising existing myths, in imagining new tropes or reimagining traditions, DQG LQ XVLQJ WKH QDUUDWLYH IRUP LWVHOI WR UHãHFW RQ KRZ WKH SDVW ZLOO EHFRPH WKH IXWXUH Å• Positioned at the start of As Above, So Below 0DUOD 0F/HRG V PDJLVWHULDO portraits of black women gracefully guide digital eyes into the virtual space. Erica Ancrum (2020) depicts a young woman sitting casually, but she does not seem relaxed. Meeting our gaze, she appears poised and ready. In a parallel portrait, LaKisha Langley (2020), another alert young woman sits cross-legged, her head UHVWLQJ RQ KDQGV 0F/HRG V VW\OH LV SDLQWHUO\ UHDOLVWLF ZLWK HYHU VR VOLJKWO\ HYLGHQW brushwork. Her monumental portraits counter the historical invisibility of black ZRPHQ LQ :HVWHUQ SDLQWLQJ 7KHVH ODUJH VFDOH SDLQWLQJV DUH SDUW RI Women, a series for which McLeod asked women of various black skin tones and hair types to sit for her. She pairs these portraits with Malian-inspired textile works and a sculptural dress form, Anonymous Woman (2019), modeling a garment composed of the cloths. This work is especially urgent, as McLeod works to uplift and rewrite the narrative of how EODFN ERGLHV DUH SRUWUD\HG LQ PHGLD DQG YLVXDO LPDJHU\ Å• For Yixiang Tong, the body and empathy for others are central to her installation, Lighter and Lighter (2020). Composed of a seven-channel video installation and a large video projection (a duality informed by Chinese philosophy), the work UHVSRQGV WR WKH SRUWUD\DO RI FULPLQDO FDVHV LQ WKH QHZV PHGLD ,Q WKH âUVW multiperspective installation, Tong meditates on the interdependent social 10

and physiological factors that might inform violent behavior. In the second, singleFKDQQHO LQVWDOODWLRQ VKH IRFXVHV RQ KHDOLQJ DQG WRJHWKHUQHVV 7RQJ V DHVWKHWLF LQ ERWK YLGHRV LV RWKHUZRUOGO\ DQG HDUO\ ,QWHUQHW VFL â %RGLHV DUH JHQGHUOHVV YRLFHV DUH GLVHPERGLHG DQG EDFNJURXQGV DUH RIWHQ SODFHOHVV 7KLV ODFN RI VSHFLâFLW\ KLJKOLJKWV the underlying human condition and the structural inequities that produce violence; further, this ambiguity alludes to the inhumanity of such structures. In his installation, painter Gil Spears likewise uses supernatural environments WR H[SORUH WKH ERG\ V UHODWLRQVKLS WR WKH QDWXUDO WKH DUWLâFLDO DQG WKH K\EULGLW\ EHWZHHQ WKH WZR 6SHDUV V SDLQWLQJV DUH ULFKO\ DEVWUDFW ZLWK VXUUHDOLVW âJXUDWLRQ recalling painters such as Neo Rauch. Approaching their practice as a form of UHVHDUFK RU kVHTXHQFH RI HVVD\V w 6SHDUV LQYHVWLJDWHV WLPH‰kGHHS WLPH JHRORJLFDO WLPH w LQ WKH DUWLVW V ZRUGV‰WKURXJK âOPLF SDLQWLQJV DQG YLGHRV 7KH SHUVSHFWLYH of time is correspondingly slippery in these works, engendering a sense of looking EDFN DV D KLVWRULDQ PLJKW ZKLOH DOVR ORRNLQJ IRUZDUG DV D SKLORVRSKHU PLJKW Å• 6XFK IXWXUH IRUZDUG UHWURVSHFWLRQ FKDUDFWHUL]HV ERWK 5DOSK 5RELQVRQ V DQG /L] /D3LGHV V LQVWDOODWLRQV 5RELQVRQ V PXOWLPHGLD LQVWDOODWLRQ The Future Remains (2020) ruminates on the natural world and our relationship to it. In an artist book and photographic installation, he juxtaposes images of pristine wildlife with depictions of man-made fencing and barriers to comment on the incongruity of human structures with environmental ones. Most mesmeric here is the FRPELQDWLRQ RI D PRYLQJ LPDJH ZLWK DQ HYROYLQJ IRUP LQ WKH VKRZ V WLWXODU ZRUN %\ SURMHFWLQJ D âOP ZLWK LPDJHU\ RI D EHDU RQWR D PHOWLQJ EORFN RI LFH 5RELQVRQ uses two ephemeral forms (video and ice) to expose the endangerment of the natural environment. Likewise, LaPides takes on the impact of human industrial activity and unfettered capitalism in the works Invasion of Microplastics and ,W V ,QVLGH RIĆ8V (both 2020). In Invasion of Microplastics, LaPides fused a piece of natural wood ZLWK WHQWDFOHV âOOHG ZLWK D ZHHN V ZRUWK RI WKH DUWLVW V RZQ SODVWLF UHIXVH ,Q WKH video It’s Inside of Us, close-up shots of white skin are layered with aerial footage of polluted sites. Both point to the inescapable reality that another contagion entered our bodies long before coronavirus: the products and byproducts of unchecked global capitalism. Together, Robinson and LaPides comment on this reality and envision ZKDW D UXLQRXV IXWXUH PLJKW ORRN OLNH LI RXU EHKDYLRU FRQWLQXHV XQFKDQJHG Å• 11

Mia Fabrizio and Chelsey Becker likewise consider new ruins in their respective ZRUN )DEUL]LR V The House that Built Me (2020) takes the form of a domestic ruin. By deconstructing her childhood home piece by piece and then reconstructing it, Fabrizio meditates on the blurred line between public and private life. She focuses on materials—such as concrete bricks or patterned wallpaper—that are often JHQGHUHG XVLQJ WKHP WR FRQVLGHU KRZ JHQGHU SHUIRUPV LQ ERWK DUHQDV %HFNHU V Turn Over the Engine! (2020) also examines a private life. Like an archaeologist piecing together an era long past, Becker assesses the materials her father left behind after a fatal car accident. The project consists of an artist book and sculptures and takes KHU IDWKHU DV D kSDVVLYH SDUWQHUw WR LQYHVWLJDWH KRZ PHPRU\ LV VKDSHG DQG IRUPHG WKURXJK FXOWXUH DQG WLPH 7KH SLQQDFOH RI %HFNHU V SURMHFW LV D FDU UHFUHDWHG RXW RI IDEULF D VRIWO\ EXOERXV UXLQ WKDW TXHHUV WKH DUFKHW\SDO PDVFXOLQH FDU FXOWXUH Å• Karli Janell Tucker contemplates how trauma informs identity in Am I Not Myself? Psychic Infestation (2020), which takes portraiture as a thematic launch point. $W WKH QH[XV RI SDLQWLQJ DQG VFXOSWXUH 7XFNHU V VHOI GHVFULEHG kJOREXODUw VW\OH works to manifest interior turmoil and anguish in physical form. Similarly, Billy )RVKD\ VXUYH\V IHHOLQJV RI kXQUHDOLW\w V\PSWRPDWLF RI GHUHDOL]DWLRQ GLVRUGHU ,GHQWLI\LQJ D FRPPRQSODFH HVFDODWRU DV D VLWH WKDW kH[WHUQDOL]HVw WKHVH V\PSWRPV )RVKD\ SUHVHQWV D VLQJOH FKDQQHO YLGHR RI D FKDLQ RI KXPDQ âJXUHV $V HDFK âJXUH DSSURDFKHV WKH IURQW RI WKH OLQH WKH\ SHUIRUP D UHIUDLQ UHSHDWLQJ D ZRUG phrase, or action. This work, queue refrain (2020), heightens our awareness of such words or actions, making the familiar seem strange through repetition. 7KH YLGHR V LQWHQGHG SODFHPHQW LQ IURQW RI D VHJPHQW RI HVFDODWRU VWDLUV RQ ZKLFK the viewer stands and watches the video, enhances this theme of repetition and GLVTXLHWV RXU VHQVH RI RUGHU LQ WKH VSDFH Å• The relationship between mind, body, and perception is further explored in $QGUHZ 3HULQL V PHVPHUL]LQJO\ XQQHUYLQJ VPDOO VFXOSWXUHV Puckerie (2020). :LWK ãHVK\ WH[WXUHV EXQFKHG DQG SXFNHUHG DQG VPDOO VKDUS WRRWK OLNH IRUPV WKHVH PRQVWURXV REMHFWV DOOXUH ZLWK WKHLU SULVWLQH JURWHVTXHQHVV :KLOH , DOPRVW FDQ W EHDU WR ORRN DW WKHVH JQDUO\ URWXQG VFXOSWXUHV ZLWK JQDVKLQJ WHHWK , FDQ W look away. Meant to be installed in a grid form, these objects are as absorbing and meditative as an Agnes Martin painting. Puckerie LV 3HULQL V UHVSRQVH WR D FDQFHU 12

GLDJQRVLV DQG WKH SURMHFW PXVHV RQ WKH ERG\ V DELOLW\ WR KRVW DQG QXUWXUH SRWHQWLDO GHDWK +RZ GR \RX UHODWH WR VRPHWKLQJ WKDW \RX DOVR SHUFHLYH DV D WKUHDW"Å• &DPHURQ %DUNHU V Archive (2020) considers how difference informs unity though the complexity of intimate relationships—allyship—between individuals and hierarchies. Rendering identity documents found within an archive in platinum SRLQW %DUNHU WHQGHUO\ WUDFHV WKH VLJQLâHUV RI DQRWKHU V OLIH $ UHJLVWUDWLRQ FDUG LV DQ HOHJLDF UHFRUG RI VRPHRQH V KHLJKW ZHLJKW DQG FRPSOH[LRQ ZKLOH D IRUJHG passport is an homage to a tenacious attempt to cross borders. Platinum point images are both permanent and dependent on the physical angle from which the viewer approaches them, meaning these sketches will endure even if how they are perceived evolves. Intended to be installed like an archival display, these works commemorate identities while also obscuring them, reimagining collectivity and DQ KRQHVW LQWLPDWH LGHD RI DOO\VKLS Å• 6DOO\ /HH DQG 'HQLVH :DLWHV ERWK DSSURDFK DQG UHLPDJLQH WKHLU RZQ FXOWXUDO identities. Confronting the construction and perception of Chinese American identities, Lee grapples with recent unrest in Hong Kong as well as the political XSKHDYDOV LQ &KLQD VLQFH 7LDQDQPHQ 6TXDUH Å•'HOLQHDWLQJ WKH FRQGLWLRQV DQG HYHQWV that led to that student massacre in a graphic timeline, Lee also deploys seemingly decorative wallpapers to reclaim her Chinese cultural heritage and comment on how it is intermingled with British and American identities. A large-scale umbrella DQG SROLFH EDUULFDGH VFXOSWXUH SRHWLFDOO\ FKDOOHQJHV FRQWHPSRUDU\ +RQJ .RQJ V relationship to China. Installed nearby, an assembly of porcelain sculptures in the form of goggles, construction helmets, and traditional face masks points to how FXOWXUH LV REVFXUHG HURGHG DQG XSGDWHG RYHU WLPH :DLWHV OLNHZLVH PHGLWDWHV RQ KHU relationship to her ancestral home in Fragments of Paradise (2020). In intentionally LPSUHVVLRQLVWLF KHDG RQ SRUWUDLWV SDLQWHG LQ D ãXLG EUXVK\ VW\OH :DLWHV UHFDOOV the Jamaica of her memory and childhood. One of the most powerful images depicts a black woman, ghost-like with her mouth open and eyes vacant, her red VKLUW GLVVROYLQJ LQWR GULSV RI SDLQW 7KH SDLQWLQJ LV VLPXOWDQHRXVO\ VRIW DQG âUP as if insisting on its own presence. As a whole, the series is a register of cultural ORVV WKDW DFFXPXODWHV DQG UHVLVWV REVFXULW\ Å•

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&XOWXUDO K\EULGLW\ DQG KRZ LW VKDSHV LGHQWLW\ FKDUDFWHUL]HV *UDFH *RPH] V multimedia work. In painting, sculpture, performance, and installation, Gomez self-searches her own cross-cultural and racial background. In a performance in which she dons a traditional Nicaraguan trenchilla dress along with armor, *RPH] UHFRQFLOHV KHU UHODWLRQVKLS EHWZHHQ KHU 1LFDUDJXDQ DQG kZKLWHw LGHQWLWLHV celebrating her Central American culture while also feeling restricted by the armor. Nearby are torso paintings as well as a table set with foods. Taken together, this installation titled, Poner cara de Güegüense (2020), broadly considers beauty DQG LWV PHDQLQJ DFURVV FXOWXUHV Å• *DEULHO 5LFKDUGVRQ DQG .LPRWK\ :X HDFK WDNH ZLOGOLIH DQG D GHHS UHVSHFW thereof) as a theme through which to explore the political, social, and economic VWUXFWXUHV WKDW ERWK FDUH IRU DQG GLVPDQWOH LW )RU :X DQ LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\ UHVHDUFK project culminates in Transpecies Blanket (2020), which merges research-based and participatory modalities with traditional drawing and illustration practices. ,Q WKH SURMHFW :X FRQVLGHUV WKH XQGHUO\LQJ VRFLDO FDXVHV IRU UKLQR SRDFKLQJ LQ 6RXWK $IULFD *DEULHO 5LFKDUGVRQ V SULQWPDNLQJ ZRUN ZDV PHDQW WR JUDSSOH ZLWK ULVLQJ VHD OHYHOV DQG FOLPDWH FKDQJH EHIRUH WKH &29,' RXWEUHDN :KLOH WKDW remains the dominant theme, Richardson was also challenged by losing access to the print studio during the shutdown. Instead of making a half-hearted attempt at digital formats, Richardson doubled down on printmaking and produced unshakably handmade block prints, which he then placed inside a wooden case. Taking natural colors for its palette, this small-scale series posits that there can EH RSSRUWXQLW\ LQ FKDQJH Å• &KDQJH LV WKH KHDUW RI -RKQ /HKPDQ V SURMHFW My Wind-Up Bird (2020). Taking his ZHOO ZRUQ FRS\ RI +DUXNL 0XUDNDPL V HSLF QRYHO The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Lehman annotates and illustrates his impressions of the book. His analysis becomes adaptation in an introspective, critical negotiation of the language of imagery in WKH VWRU\ /HKPDQ V OLQH GUDZLQJV DUH EDODQFHG ZLWK KLV QRWHV ERWK WH[W DQG LPDJH rendered in a sinewy style. This work is a performance as much as a drawing, as /HKPDQ LQWHUYHQHV ZLWK DQG HQDFWV 0XUDNDPL V ZRUGV VKLIWLQJ WKHLU PHDQLQJ as he does so.

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(YHU\WKLQJ KDV FKDQJHG 7KDW VXFK DQ LPDJLQDWLYH QRQOLQHDU WDOH DQFKRUV /HKPDQ V WUDQVGLVFLSOLQDU\ SURMHFW VSHDNV WR WKH VLJQLâFDQFH RI QDUUDWLYH LQ UHFRQFLOLQJ WKH ZRUOG ZH KDYH ZLWK WKH RQH ZH ZDQW $V WKH 60)$ JUDGXDWHV ZRUN DWWHVWV this tenacity, despite seismic change, manifests in a deep desire to formulate new QDUUDWLYHV IRU D QDVFHQW DQG XQVHWWOHG IXWXUH Å• Leah Triplett Harrington is a writer, curator, and editor. She is the founding editor of The Rib and the assistant curator of Now + There.

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FE AT UR IN G THE WOR K OF : Cameron Barker

Andrew Perini

Chelsey Becker

Gabriel Richardson

Mia Fabrizio

Ralph Robinson

Billy Foshay

Gil Spears

Grace Gomez

Yixiang Tong

Liz LaPides

Karli Tucker

Sally Lee

Denise Waite

John Lehman

Kimothy Wu

Marla McLeod

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CAMERON BARKER ,QWLPDF\ FRPHV IURP WKH /DWLQ URRW LQWLPXV ZKLFK LV ORRVHO\ GHâQHG DV kFORVHQHVV w Closeness is commonly understood as emotional connection, which has traditionally been represented through corporeal bonds. Throughout history, however, separated groups of people have found ways to connect beyond the body, exemplifying acts of allyship. Archive explores how closeness can exist between people separated by social hierarchies and considers the ways in which intimacy is embodied in physical forms beyond the corporeal. A forged passport, a scrapbook photo, a cardboard protest sign, a condom, all objects that exist as individual points in a network of proximity that understands intimacy as transcending the body. The work reimagines allyship as a practice and not a title, shifting the subversive power away from individual actors to the act itself. In researching a variety of periods in history with extreme divisions based on sexuality, gender, race, and other human characteristics, I discovered acts of allyship rejecting social and political control. Archive focuses on documentation created through these acts and allows the viewer to contemplate both what allyship is and how it is represented. The ritual act of metal-point drawing represents my own rumination on these concepts. Copying in itself is a forgery, creating an object that places the original documents in a new state of physical permanence. The rendered documents trace a human connection preserved in artifact—a distinct physical embodiment of intimacy. The act of drawing, in turn, commemorates and continues the conversation begun by contributions to a common good.

☜ Gefälschter Reisepass (Forged Passport), detail from the series Archive (2020) / Platinum-point on wood panel. 19

Reckon and Lament (2019) / Bleached blue jeans, metal frame, and polyester filling.

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CHELSEY BECKER :KHQ FRQWHPSODWLQJ WKH OLIH RI P\ ODWH IDWKHU , LPDJLQH P\VHOI LQ DQ DXWR VDOYDJH yard sifting through the wrecked or totaled cars he used to drive, probing them for WUDFHV RI KLP $IWHU P\ IDWKHU GLHG LQ D FDU DFFLGHQW DV KLV VROH EHQHâFLDU\ , LQKHULWHG HYHU\WKLQJ KH KDG LQFOXGLQJ D FODVVLF FDU WKDW GRHV QRW UXQ :LWKLQ DQ artist book, I am chronicling my pursuit of my father through these items and the FDUV WKDW KH WUDYHOHG LQ :LWK P\VHOI DV WKH QDUUDWRU , DP UHWHOOLQJ KLV VWRU\ ZKLOH recounting the cross-continental road trip I embarked on to the multiple places KH OLYHG WKURXJKRXW KLV OLIH $ORQJ ZLWK WKLV SURMHFW , DP VFXOSWLQJ ãDZHG HIâJLHV of components from his vehicles. I use materials reminiscent of labor and craft, like sewn blue jeans and carved wood, to explore the deep complexity of existence because, like automobiles, there are multiple parts that contribute to functionality. Throughout his life, the cars my father drove symbolized pivotal moments that altered his path. They have become the vessels through which I have tried to understand him – not just as my father but as a person containing multiple facets RI KXPDQ FKDUDFWHU ERWK JRRG DQG EDG :LWKLQ WKH OLIH RI P\ GDG WKHUH ZDV D roughhewn vernacular that spoke of blue-collar labor, crisis, loss, and individuality. These aspects relate to the craft of car restoration and rural human geography in a world that is increasingly losing its accessibility to tactile pursuits due to advances in technology. Because my drive to understand my father is now interwoven in his own narrative, larger questions are raised in my work regarding how we relate to one another, how we exist in the world, what inheritance means, and what happens to memory.

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MIA FABRIZIO I am consumed with hidden and exposed structure, both architectural and social. My investigation of physical construction, cultural constructs, and their interrelationship originates from the framework most familiar to me: the house in which I grew up. 2XU IDPLO\ KRPH LV âIWHHQ PLOHV RXWVLGH RI 3KLODGHOSKLD V FHQWHU LQ D IRUPHU VWHHO mill town where European immigrants of the early 1900s—particularly Irish, Polish, and Italian—settled. In the mid-1950s, my Italian American grandfather remodeled this 3-story family house into a multi-use structure that serves as a home and a familyrun business. The smells of perm solution and fresh tomato gravy have mingled for four generations. Still today, only three steps separate the handcrafted hair salon from our kitchen table. I merge painting, collage, printmaking, sculpture, and installation to create both two- and three-dimensional artwork that deconstructs and recreates this space. There is an emphasis on memory as I adhere, carve, and chip away at wallpaper, plywood, drywall, paneling, and objects. Patterns are interrupted and fall apart. 7KURXJK PDWHULDOLW\ DQG SURFHVV , DLP WR UHODWH D VHQVH RI ĂŁXLGLW\ EHWZHHQ IHPLQLQH and masculine, public and private, and modern and traditional. The physical layering of materials alludes to the emblematic layers of people and to the layers that compose immigrant culture over time. The work is a map of comprehension. By peeling away facades and breaking down constructs, my intention is to question the systems that are accepted and perpetuated as normal, to cast away the prescribed, and to free the spirit of the individual.

☜ the house that built me (2020) / Masonite, drywall, plywood, wallpaper, latex paint, woodstain, acrylic medium, digital photos, and found objects. 23

B I L LY F O S H A Y My work examines the intersection of psychoanalysis, media theory, and alienation arising out of a contemporary milieu that blurs the demarcations between physical and virtual, child and adult, process and outcome. It is an alienation arising from an increasingly disjunctive relationship between expectations of the mind and experiences of the body; a dichotomy accentuated by internet use, contemporary entertainment, and late-capitalist paradigms. I have arrived at my interdisciplinary art practice through my experience with a form of metaphysical alienation called GHSHUVRQDOL]DWLRQ‰D VWDWH RI GHWDFKPHQW ZKHUH RQH V ERG\ WKRXJKWV DQG IHHOLQJV VHHP XQUHDO DUWLâFLDO RU DV QRW EHORQJLQJ WR RQHVHOI 7KH GHSHUVRQDOL]HG LQGLYLGXDO is divested of their typical emotional and perceptual faculties wherein an inability to place the self into context gives way to psychological vertigo. The depersonalized VWDWH LV D ULFK H[DPSOH RI FRSLQJ PHFKDQLVPV IRU XQVWDEOH WZHQW\ âUVW FHQWXU\ orientations to the self, spatial relationships, time, and emotion. The work has found a suitable home in virtual reality and computer-generated video to explore these concepts. Familiar environments are made strange through their conversion to a virtualized form and an exaggeration of their properties allowed by their digitality: a grocery store is ever more vibrant and organized, an escalator ride never ends, a virtual dentist administers too much laughing gas. The viewer and the art work are linked by their mirroring of one another—and in fact occupy the same space in the real and virtual environment—thereby increasing believability, disorientation, and affect.

☜ queue refrain (2020) / Single-channel video with sound (still). 25

Poner cara de Güegüense (2020) / Photographs.

GRACE GOMEZ The work I am producing now is centered around my own self-healing, physically and emotionally. Using my own body as the model, I paint images of trauma—often close-ups of bruising and scars; this, in turn, becomes part of my own therapy and self-acceptance. In the second process, I must deconstruct my own upbringing as a OLJKW VNLQQHG 1LFDUDJXDQ $PHULFDQ IHPDOH UHĂŁHFWLQJ RQ &DWKROLF WUDGLWLRQV DQG symbolism as well as pagan rituals that become paired up with historical and cultural VWRULHV DQG HYHQWV IURP 1LFDUDJXD :LWK WKHVH VWRULHV LQ KDQG , P DEOH WR GHSLFW P\ own story in the form of armor and dance, using characters for guidance in navigating my own questions. These characters represent not only a historical rebellion among the people of Nicaragua, but also a contemporary symbol used in a hostile political climate. Though I draw strength from these characters, I want my audience to understand through my performance that this does not solve nor dissolve the feeling of alienation fully. I no longer ask permission to be allowed to be part of my own culture, nor feel I have no right to it due to the color of my skin, but I do KDYH WR âQG P\ RZQ SODFH EHWZHHQ WKH WZR ZRUOGV FHOHEUDWLQJ KRZ IDU , KDYH FRPH and how far I have left to go.

27

LIZ LAPIDES I focus on the myth of human dominance over nature, our journey from sustainable land practices to the environment under capitalism, and how this has affected our quality of life both physically and mentally. It is stunning how humans have SUHGLFWHG RXU VHOI LQãLFWHG GHPLVH WKURXJK VFLHQFH âFWLRQ ZKLOH LJQRULQJ WKH UHDO ZDUQLQJ VLJQV RI DFWXDO VFLHQFH :H EHOLHYH WKDW RXU WHFKQRORJ\ ZKLFK FUHDWHG WKH PHVV ZLOO â[ WKH PHVV WKLV GHOXVLRQ LQHYLWDEO\ OHDGV WR WKH HQG RI FLYLOL]DWLRQ in every apocalyptic story. My work explores doomsday imagery found in reality and fantasy with beautiful, terrifying depictions of our current environment and possible future. Through sculpture and photography, I dramatically express the breakdown of what consumer capitalism is doing to the environment in a way that explores hopelessness, wonder, terror, perversion, and the sublime. Corporate pollution has seeped into every level of the biosphere: the atmosphere, the global water cycle and the metabolisms of every organism. Just like an alien species come to dominate our planet, we have released these toxic forever-substances into our world, and they have consumed it. My artistic journey has led me through the Earth to the furthest reaches RI FDSLWDOLVP )URP UHPRWH ODQGVFDSHV WR GHHS LQVLGH WKH ERG\ , âQG WKH LQIHFWLRQ of greed has poisoned everything. Truly we are a species to behold for we have the power to create or destroy worlds.

☜ Coal Ash (2019) / Digital photograph manipulation. 29

The Protection and The Fragile (2020) / Porcelain.

30

S A L LY L E E My research and practice focus on the current social and political climate in Hong Kong. The work's foundation is inspired by my 2019 trip there. The introduction of the Extradition Bill, which would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to PDLQODQG &KLQD VSDUNHG WKH âUVW SURWHVW WKDW -XQH 7KH SURWHVWHUV KDYH VWDWHG WKHLU âYH GHPDQGV 1. :LWKGUDZDO RI WKH ([WUDGLWLRQ %LOO 2. For Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down 3. Inquiry into police brutality 4. Release of arrested protesters 5. Universal suffrage ,Q 6HSWHPEHU WKH ELOO ZDV ZLWKGUDZQ EXW WKH FRQãLFW EHWZHHQ SROLFH DQG protesters had already been and escalating. The following month, Carrie Lam banned face masks under a colonial-era emergency law. It is June 2020 and the protests has persisted over a year now even during the Coronavirus pandemic. On May 21, 2020, China approved a bill that would implement a national security law over Hong Kong, resulting in the territory's special status with the U.S. revoked by 3UHVLGHQW 7UXPS DQG WKH DQQXDO 7LDQDQPHQ YLJLO EDQQHG IRU WKH âUVW WLPH 0\ DSSURDFK LQYROYHV ORRNLQJ DW WKH FRQãLFW WKURXJK D IXWXULVW OHQV WKDW LPDJLQHV investigates, and parodies what the future might look like if the situation is not UHVROYHG , ORRN WR D UDQJH RI UHVRXUFHV WR LQIRUP P\ ZRUN VXFK DV VSHFXODWLYH âFWLRQ historical texts, conversations with political scientists, and personal sources who live in Hong Kong. My art practice has served as a mechanism to navigate my place in WKH ZRUOG DV D âUVW JHQHUDWLRQ LPPLJUDQW 7KHVH H[SHULHQFHV LQIRUP PH RQ KRZ WR create conceptual work through historical, political, and cultural contexts. Like my FXOWXUDO LGHQWLW\ P\ FRPELQHG DHVWKHWLF EHWZHHQ (DVWHUQ DQG :HVWHUQ VW\OHV DQG SKLORVRSKLHV LV D SDUW RI P\ DUWLVWLF âQJHUSULQW

31

My Wind-Up Bird: Hear the Wind-Up Bird Sing (pg. i, ii) (2019) / Pen and ink on found paper.

32

JOHN LEHMAN My Wind-Up Bird gives visual form to the space that both literary scholarship and imaginative reading occupy. As I read and re-read my English copy of Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I translate my experience into drawings, paintings, and a variety of print media on the pages of the book itself, at once FHOHEUDWLQJ WKH SRZHU RI WKH DXWKRU V ZRUGV DQG TXHVWLRQLQJ ZKDW LV PLVVLQJ This marginalia-turned-art not only hearkens back to the content of illuminated manuscripts but also facilitates vigorous dialogue between myself, the text, and the author. It interrogates and comments on questions of authorship and cultural transmission. It demonstrates adoration for the author even as it amends the text. It is D YHQXH ZKHUH GHWDLOHG UHĂŁHFWLRQV RQ VWRU\ WKUHDGV DQG LQWHUWH[WXDO DQDO\VHV FDQ PHHW a fan's intense desire to participate in the production of literary experience. Most importantly, My Wind-Up Bird reveals that reading need not be a solitary or passive endeavor; reading critically and creatively is a social act whose generative potential to make new art and new literatures ought to be shared.

33

Anonymous Woman (2020) / Sculpture.

34

MARLA MCLEOD I create works that provide social commentary centered around how history and race relate to the power of the black body. My work unites symbolic historical imagery and ideas found within the Euro-American canon to the dynamism, or lack thereof, associated with the black body in modern times. I aim to combat false narratives and explore new ones by deciphering the dehumanizing historical representations of EODFN SHRSOH ZKLOH VLPXOWDQHRXVO\ HPSKDVL]LQJ V\PEROV RI SULGH IRXQG LQ WRGD\ V Black American culture. My oil paintings highlight associations of social value by engaging a medium from which black women have largely been excluded as makers and in which they are even more infrequently found as subjects. The large-scale realistic paintings deny the expectations of submission, anonymity, and invisibility typically associated with WKLV JURXS RI ZRPHQ 7KH EROG LVRODWHG âJXUHV FRQYH\ D VHQVH RI H[SRVXUH RU vulnerability through their bare skin, like that historically found in reclining nudes, ZKLFK LV XOWLPDWHO\ GHâHG E\ WKH ODFN RI IUDLOW\ LQ WKH âJXUHV GLUHFW JD]HV 7KHVH paintings deploy symbolism like that found in both the social representations of baroque paintings and the still-life paintings of the Dutch golden age. By limiting distractions, these images enable the viewer to focus more intently on what is presented. My sculpture combines the controlling imagery of the mammy, the prideful patterns of African mud cloths, image-transforming black women, and the elaborate delivery of modern drag/ballroom culture.

35

Puckerie (2019) / Clay.

36

ANDREW PERINI The Puckerie are a visual manifestation of the anxiety I experienced while facing cancer. Although the doctors treating my condition reassured me that my life expectancy was unlikely to change as a result of my diagnosis, the medical report VWDWHG WKDW WKH PDVV LQVLGH RI P\ OHJ KDG kXQNQRZQ ELRORJLFDO SRWHQWLDO w ([SRXQGLQJ RQ WKLV LGHD , EHJDQ WR FUHDWH D VSHFLHV RI ãRUD IDXQD K\EULG RUJDQLVP called The Puckerie, an amalgamative exploration of my experience with biological SRWHQWLDO , YH DOZD\V KDG D GHHS LQWHUHVW LQ ELRORJ\ DQG PRQVWHUV 7KH GHVLJQ philosophy of The Puckerie drew on the unusual anxiety created by the combination RI WKH GRFWRU V YHUEDO UHDVVXUDQFH ZLWK WKH XQGHUVWXGLHG DQG UDUH QDWXUH RI WKH IRUP RI FDQFHU , KDG DV ZHOO DV WKH ELRSV\ UHSRUW V ODQJXDJH WKDW VXJJHVWHG GRXEW DQG uncertainty. I wanted these creatures to be both small and containable, cute and round, and also threatening, scary, and dangerous—a visual intersection between the horrible and the adorable.

37

Art in the age of environmental uncertainty (2020) / Hand-printed color woodcut, variable edition of 20.

38

GABRIEL RICHARDSON , ZURWH WKHVH VHQWHQFHV LQ -DQXDU\ Ĺ•What would you take with you if you had to pack up and leave at a moment’s notice? The term “go-bag,â€? derived from prepper culture, evokes the usual suspects of extra ammunition, nonperishable rations, and ILUVW DLG PDWHULDOV %XW ZKDW LI \RXU JR EDJ ZDV ILOOHG ZLWK DUW DQG PDWHULDOV WR PDNH LW"Ć I had no idea where we would have ended up: myself sheltered in place with only OR â DUW PDWHULDOV DW DUPV OHQJWK Ĺ•$OWKRXJK WKH VWDWH ZH DUH OLYLQJ LQ LV WHPSRUDU\ WKHUH ZLOO FHUWDLQO\ EH VLJQLâFDQW ORQJ WHUP VRFLHWDO VKLIWV Ĺ•)RU PRVW $PHULFDQV WKH largest source of wealth, if they happen to have any, is their home. But what happens when the future is uncertain and long-term investments in real estate begin to look PXFK OHVV DWWUDFWLYH" :KDW GRHV WKH IXWXUH ORRN OLNH ZKHQ JHQHUDWLRQV RI SHRSOH DUH unsure if that future will include a habitable planet? Greta Thunberg speaking before the United Nations put it best: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood ZLWK \RXU HPSW\ ZRUGV w :LWK KXPDQLW\ VKLIWLQJ RXU WKLQNLQJ IRU D FKDQJLQJ SODQHW ZKDW NLQGV RI VKLIWV GR DUWLVWV QHHG WR PDNH LQ WKHLU SUDFWLFH"Ĺ•0\ ZRUN LV FKDQJLQJ DV I have been socially isolating due to the pandemic. I have since been answering my own question and creating new works.

39

Dog Bites Bear, from the series The Future Remains (2019) / Archival digital photograph.

40

RALPH ROBINSON 'XULQJ H[SHGLWLRQV WR UHPRWH ZLOGHUQHVV DUHDV , KDYH H[SHULHQFHG QDWXUH V SRZHU WR inspire reverence for the environment. Returning with thousands of photographs of wildlife—including Russian brown bears in Siberia, polar bears in the Arctic, and penguins in the Antarctic—I have displayed those images in public locations to encourage others to consider what is at stake as we confront the climate crisis. The images represent my relationship with nature and serve as a catalyst for conversations. Limited wilderness remains. That wilderness, the animals that still inhabit it, and the health of the entire planet are all threatened by human activities. Through my work, I have attempted to open a dialogue about how we connect with the natural places around us and how we see our role in protecting the planet now, in the Anthropocene. In what ways can we engender a recognition that, just as nature has WDNHQ FDUH RI XV ZH XUJHQWO\ QHHG WR âQG EHWWHU ZD\V WR WDNH FDUH RI QDWXUH" 0\ ZRUN represents a search for a spiritual and emotional relationship with nature and a better understanding of the impact we have on the world whenever we step outside. I seek to further that introspection through my art and create narratives of hope that demonstrate what is at stake. Recognizing that much damage has already been done, I am centered on a sense of optimism because I know there is a great deal to lose if we do not act with urgency.

41

Philosophy Shop (2020) / Oil on canvas.

42

GIL SPEARS I approach painting as a form of research or a sequence of essays. My orientation to painting comes out of my interest in cinematic language. Through painting, I hope to explore ideas of deep time, geological time, and bodily vulnerability and SURWHFWLRQ‰ZKHUH WKH KXPDQ ERG\ LV VHHQ DV D UHOD\ EHWZHHQ QDWXUDO DQG DUWLâFLDO environments. Formally, I use the painterly vocabulary of the line (as opposed to the plane) to build an iconography adequate to the visualization of neural processes as impacted by technology—machine-assisted viewing, digital image archiving, and emergent three-dimensional imaging all inform the deployment of perspective in painting. In moving from painting to video, I hope to draw a connection between my interest in topology and geology and my interest in cinema—which is to say, to try to break GRZQ WKH ODQJXDJH RI FLQHPD WR LWV kDUFKDHRORJLFDOw FRPSRQHQWV ,Q FLQHPD RU media studies, the moving image is understood as three different technological paradigms (the camera obscura, the persistence of vision, and photography) KLVWRULFDOO\ kVXSHULPSRVHGw RQ RQH DQRWKHU 7KH QRWLRQ RI kGHHS WLPHw UHPDLQV important to me here: the way in which various patterns of intelligibility are superimposed upon one another and effect the abstract historical structure of our understanding—the idea of a previously lost or obscured sequence of overlain WRSRORJLHV WKDW SUHFHGH DQG XQGHUJLUG RQH V H[SHULHQFH RI PLQG DQG ERG\ My more recent video work aims to explicitly translate textual and historical research LQWR HVVD\LVWLF DVVRFLDWLYH LPDJHU\ $Q RQJRLQJ UHVHDUFK SURMHFW RQ kFRUSRUDWLRQV w broadly understood, informs my study of the relationship between secularized UHOLJLRXV FRQFHSWV kFRUSRUDWH SHUVRQDOLW\w HFRQRPLF FRQFHSWV WKH PHWDSK\VLFDO idea of perpetual growth), and forms of group identity (the institution and the iconography of church and state).

43

Lighter and Lighter (2020) / Installation rendering.

44

YIXIANG TONG The sun falls at the bottom of my chart, in the land of the origin. Surrounded by a pure energy from the inner and deep land, it embraces our past, offering a shelter IURP VXIIHULQJ LQ WKLV FKDRWLF ZRUOG :H FDPH IURP WKH HPSWLQHVV ZDONLQJ WKURXJK WKH IRUHVW KRSLQJ WKDW WKH SDLQ WUDXPD DQG GHVLUH ZRQ W OHW XV JHW ORVW :DONLQJ LQ WKH GDUN IRUHVW DORQH ZKHUH DUH WKH RWKHUV" 7LPH JRHV E\ , KDYH WR NHHS walking, looking down at the dirt, pests, snakes, thorns around my feet, hurting my ERG\ 7LPH JRHV E\ P\ EORRG\ OHJV NHHS ZDONLQJ , LQFOXGH P\VHOI LQ HYHU\RQH V lives, vanities, experiences. Do these matter? Looking up at the starry sky, I see emptiness, Nirvana. Is that true? 7KH IRUHVW LW LV VR UHDO PRUH UHDO WKDQ RXU EHOLHIV ,W V LURQLF WKDW , ZLOOLQJO\ EHOLHYH fakes. Fake is the imaginary world. Nothing is there, hence no pains and sufferings, just emptiness. Humans are like plants, growing from the soil, experiencing storms and sufferings, EXW QRW HYHU\RQH VXUYLYHV DW WKH HQG :DONLQJ LQ WKH GDUN IRUHVW , NQRZ PDQ\ people are here.

45

How Am I Not Myself Series (2019) / Oil painting.

46

KARLI TUCKER , DP D FODVVLFDOO\ WUDLQHG SDLQWHU DQG PXOWLGLVFLSOLQDU\ DUWLVW 7KHUH V D FRQâGHQFH in the skill of portraiture in my work and a joy in the sculpture and installation. Exploring the relationship between trauma and identity through transposing portraiture onto unstable or anamorphic media gives me a way to create a physical representation of memory loss, hallucinatory states, body integrity, and dissociative episodes. I spend time investigating alienation from myself in response WR SK\VLFDO DQG SV\FKRORJLFDO SKHQRPHQD Å•, WKLQN DERXW KRZ , DP DQG DP QRW myself. I am in search of the processes and rituals we explore to mend the psyche and grow out of trauma-response living into a productive present reality 2ULJLQDOO\ IURP 6RXWKHUQ &DOLIRUQLD , DP KHDYLO\ LQãXHQFHG E\ WKH FXOWXUDO SDWRLV DQG SDOHWWH RI WKH :HVW &RDVW 6SDQQLQJ IURP WKH VSUDZOLQJ QHRQ DQG VPRJ diffused coastal energy of Los Angeles to the austere warmth of the desert interior, WKH UHJLRQ LV LQJUDLQHG LQ WKH ZRUN , FUHDWH Å• , ORRN IRU WKH EHDXWLIXO DPRQJVW WKH KDUVK UHDOLWLHV RI OLIH DQG P\ ZRUN UHãHFWV D GHVLUH WR âQG VRODFH DQG KHDOLQJ LQ WKH VXEOLPH , VWULYH WR VSHDN WUXWK DQG WKH SRZHU of optimism through my art in a sea of anxiety-invoking scenes of extraterrestrial landscapes, cancerous growth, funhouse mirrors, and claustrophobic spaces.

47

48

DENISE WAITE My heart unravels across the Atlantic, buoyed forward by the gusts of vague waves WKDW ELOORZ DFURVV LWV VXUIDFH , ORYH WR ZDWFK P\ UHãHFWLRQ ULSSOH WKURXJK WKH RFHDQ OLNH FUHVWV LQ WKH WLGH VXUJLQJ IRUZDUG RQO\ WR GLVDSSHDU LQ WKH ãRZ $V , LPSO\ , VHDUFK IRU DQ HOXVLYH VHQVH RI VHOI LQ P\ SRUWUDLWV :KDW , VHHN LV fugitive, like the ever-shifting shoreline. I look to the myth of Medusa as a conduit to investigate my memories of Jamaica and my understanding of my identity. I explore the duality of being both beautiful and monstrous, seen and invisible, goddess and demon.

☜ Untitled (Self-Portrait) (2019) / Oil on canvas. 49

Trans-species Blanket (2020) / Blanket and QR code.

50

KIMOTHY WU I am a South African–born Taiwanese artist who works at the point where the GLJLWDO PHHWV WKH SK\VLFDOŕZRUOG , DP IDVFLQDWHG E\ WKH kXQWROG VWRU\ w DQG WKH subjects of my work often go unnoticed in the everyday stream of information and LPDJHU\ RI ZKLFK LQFOXGHV WKH FRPSOLFDWHG IDFHWV RI UKLQR SRDFKLQJ ŕ7KH SK\VLFDO object (the QR code blanket) on view in the gallery is multipurpose and rooted in practicality. At the closing of the exhibition, I will donate the blankets to rhino orphanages where they will be used by the rhino orphans. The QR code is a tool to take the viewer to the digital world, where the true content and subject matter of rhino poaching is explored. Through the use of evocative, visually striking imagery, I aim to evoke an emotional reaction within my viewer that includes but is not limited to sorrow, empathy, love, and anger. I explore the narratives of the poacher, the rhino, the ranger, the conservationist, the consumer, and the HQYLURQPHQW LQ ZKLFK SRDFKLQJ WDNHV SODFH WKURXJK WKH OHQV RIŕDFFHSWDQFH LQVWHDG of fear). The illustrations serve to appeal to the inner child in my viewers—an invitation to play with, touch, and experience the world from shifting perspectives.

51

Mia Fabrizio, reflections of the way life used to be (2019) / Plywood, plaster, stain and oil paint. 54

Cameron Barker, Surface (2018) / Graphite on tagboard.

55

Chelsey Becker, Exist in the Valley (2019) / Embroidered cardboard.

56

Denise Waite, Untitled (2019) / Oil on canvas.

57

☝ Karli Tucker, studio installation (2019) / Mylar, LEDs and diachroic film. ☟ Kimothy Wu, Trans-species Blanket (2020) / Wool. 58

Liz LaPides, Owens Lake Bed (2019) / Drone.

59

60

☝ Ralph Robinson, Gesture #2 (2018) / Gelatin silver print. ☜ John Lehman, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (2018) / Pen, ink and watercolor.

61

62

Mara McLeod, Boxed (2020) / Mixed media. 63

Chelsey Becker, School Photographs of Keith (2019) / Digital image.

64

Billy Foshay, grocery facing (2019) / Single-channel video with sound.

65

66

NURTURE

NATURE FEB 6 - MAR 31, 2020

Image Credit: Aspens, New Mexico after Ansel Adams, William Van Beckum

OPENING RECEPTION FEB 27, 7-9PM A DISCUSSION W/ THE JUROR: Thursday, March 19, 7-8:30pm EXHIBITION JUROR: Laura McPhee, Photographer & MassArt Professor

F

CUS

Special Thanks to Our Nurture/Nature Sponsor

The Arlington Center for the Arts and Century 21 Adams is pleased to present the inaugural exhibition in our biannual photography exhibition series, FOCUS. The 2020 theme, Nurture/Nature invites artists, and in turn audiences, to explore their individual relationship with nature, as well as our collective impact on the natural world.

20 ACADEMY ST ARLINGTON, MA 02476 | 781.648.6220 | ACARTS.ORG

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N E ER LE ATT LLY KEN P SA BRO O IZI

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Selection of Exhibitions Showing Work by MFA 2020 67

Sally Lee, Gord-geous (2018) / Porcelain

68

Marla McLeod, Strange Fruit (2018) / Oil on canvas. ☝ Marla McLeod, Labels (2018) / Mixed media. ☟ 69

Gabriel Richardson, Untitled (2019) / Scanned child's drawing (from the artist), digitally manipulated. 70

Karli Tucker, cut out of the canvas (2019) / Oil paint on canvas.

71

Billy Foshay, Mia Fabrizio's Studio / Photogrammetry scan. 72

73

Gil Spears, coolant (2020) / Oil on canvas.

74

☝ Yixiang Tong, Lighter and Lighter (2020) / Screenshot from Cinema 4D. ☟ Grace Gomez, Scars (2018) / Oil paint on wood. 75

766

Yixiang Tong, Running Heart Rate (2019) / Single-channel video with sound. 7777

Andrew Perini, Puckerie (2019) / Digital render.

78

John Lehman, Fried Peppers and Beef (2019) / Pen and ink on handmade paper. 79

80

☝ Denise Waite, Long Ago in the Jamaica of my Dreams (2019) / Oil on canvas. ☜ Sally Lee, Flowers Laid for Lady Libery (2019) / Digital image. 81

82

Billy Foshay, Billy Foshay's Studio / Photogrammetry scan. 83

Sally Lee, Civil Disobedience no.2 (2020) / Poercelain and found objects

84

Chelsey Becker, Totter and Traverse (2019) / Oil paint on gessoed cardboard.

85

Cameron Barker, Tectonic Plates (2019) / Graphite and marble dust on board. 86

Grace Gomez, Cast (2019) / Plaster.

87

Liz LaPides, Death Valley (2019) / Drone. Gabriel Richardson, Untitled (2019) / Oil and enamel on canvas panel. 88

Andrew Perini, Eggs (2019) / Digital render.

89

90

Ralph Robinson, The Catch, from the series The Future Remains (2019) / Archival digital photograph.

91

Billy Foshay, no laughing gas please (2019) / Virtual reality installatrion.

92

☝ John Lehman, Grand(mother) pg. 70-71 (2019) / Pen and ink. ☟ John Lehman, Boris and the Magpie pg. 564-565 (2019) / Pen and ink. 93

Denise Waite, Self-Portrait (2018) / Oil on canvas.

94

Grace Gomez, Festival and Armor (2020) / Mixed media. â˜? Yixiang Tong, Containers (2019) / Four channel video installation. â˜&#x;

95

Karli Tucker, Abi (2019) / Oil paint on canvas.

96

Mia Fabrizio, Drawing in Space (2019) / Performance with twine and roller skates.

97

â˜? Andrew Perini, Puckerie Fertilization (2019) / Digital image. â˜&#x; Kimothy Wu, Fragments (2019) / Digital illustration. 98

Liz LaPides, Earth to Mars (2019) / Photoshopped image.

99

Gil Spears, 01 (2020) / Oil and ink on paper.

100

Kimothy Wu, Sudan (2018) / Digial illustration. 101

Billy Foshay, Marla McLeod's Studio / Photogrammetry scan. 102

103

Billy Foshay, as monchichi, as taxidermy (2019) / Pigment print on masking tape. Ralph Robinson, Bike in Motion, Gold (2018) / Silkscreen print. 104

Mia Fabrizio, nostalgia is not what it used to be (2019) / Plywood, plaster, stain, and oil paint.

105

Gabriel Richardson, Untitled (2019) / Scan of copper etching plate, digitally manipulated.

106

Cameron Barker, Gifts (2019) / Graphite and silverpoint on board.

107

110

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