Doing The Work

CURATOR’S FOREWORD There are several areas of contemporary discourse—from social justice to mental health—in which the question often arises: “what does doing the work look like?” In this group exhibition, “the work” is both personal and collective, theoretical, and tangible. In conversation with The Kreeger Museum’s permanent collection of historic artworks, 2021-2023 Hamiltonian Fellow artists Kyrae Dawaun, Cecilia Kim, Ara Koh, Samera Paz, and Matthew Russo present contemporary photographs, sculptures, drawings, and videos that embody labor in various forms. In this exhibition, work serves as a path toward connection, expression, and transformation.

In Cecilia Kim’s Performed Labor series, three videos evidence the artist’s preparation of traditional Korean dishes. Her face, along with most of her figure, are concealed behind an opaque black partition. In each video, her hands emerge from a round aperture and begin assembling the ingredients that rest within the foreground. The size of the ornate serving dishes, along with the mounds of small bites steadily stacking up within them, suggest this durational performance may be an effort of hospitality. Perhaps this anonymous female figure is preparing to host a group of loved ones? Could this series of domestic rituals be in anticipation of some sort of communal celebration, or might the special occasion be the act of gathering in itself?

The works that surround Kim’s video installation include Pablo Picasso’s iconic works At The Café (1901) and Fruit Bowl and Glasses (1943), as well as Paul Cezanne’s The Dark Blue Vase, III (c. 1880).

These works and others that adorn the atrium gallery, formerly a sitting room, echo Performed Labor’s decorative aesthetic qualities and connect its compositions to the art historical still life. In conversation, paintings of vases filled with carefully arranged flowers and patterned bowls filled with sumptuous fruits highlight lasting motifs tied to gender and class. Traditions that tend to taste, sight, and smell—historically demarcated as “women’s domestic work”—are reflected upon as time spent and care given. Thus, the tedious work of preparing a beautiful meal is exalted as an intimate act of care spanning across generations.

Just around the corner, Samera Paz presents a sentimental, self-reflective take on the still life. With three photographs, she documents a slew of diaries, beauty products, and clothing. The spines and pages of each journal reveal signs of weathering over time, yellowing at the margins. Some of the words written are clearly legible, yet many of them are blurred, barely discernible markings that force the viewer into a struggle for clarity. Dates ranging from 2001 to 2013, along with an old portrait confirm the diaries to be documents of the artist’s adolescence. This radical act of shared introspection introduces a deep sense of vulnerability. Through this still life and other object studies, Paz uses her belongings to confront her past, and hold a mirror to her present self.