For this week's art exhibition review, I am writing about Elise Deringer's show in the Harry Wood Gallery on ASU campus. Elise is a graduate student studying fibers, and this was her thesis show. I took some time before the class visited her show to view her work on my own. She joined the use of silk fabric and various combination's of salt, sand, concrete, and spices to create individual pieces that cohesively fit into the entire show. Elise elaborates on what her thought process was behind her work in her artist statement. She says her work is "... a record of a few small steps on a long path, and left open for understanding.".
Structurally, the pieces evoke a soft and ethereal tone. They are hung in various ways. Her piece titled "Metamorphosis" forms a wave pattern that creates an intriguing three dimensional movement. This was also my favorite piece of hers, as she created cyanotypes (using sunlight to develop an image on a surface) on the silk. Her pieces, as a collection, make up various forms of nets, containers, and filters. Her use of silk in order to construct these forms is very impressive, as silk is a soft, delicate fabric. I like how this quality contrasts with the sturdy, supportive forms they make up.
I loved this exhibit and how abstract and earthy her pieces were. The way she used sand to create designs in the silk was very unique and I'm glad we took the time to visit the exhibit to learn what her inspirations were behind her work.
ReplyDeleteThis show was absolutely beautiful. It definitely made me think. I thought listening to the artist speak made the exhibit even ten times better. It is one thing to read an artist statement, but it's entirely different when you hear things explained in person.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that getting the opportunity to hear Elise's thought process and journey to her theses exhibition definitely made the gallery experience that much more meaningful. I was blown away by how quick our mind is to judge. Personally, walking into the gallery I didn't know what to expect and at first I wasn't sure what to make out of the pieces. After hearing Elise speak and explain the representation behind her work truly opened my eyes and heart to the uniqueness in all her pieces. The framed silk squares on the wall was my favorite. I especially loved how she used the idea of "unreachable spaces." How we all carry these hard rocks in our pockets which we can feel and we are aware that they are there. But we can never get to them. Kind of like heavy memories that follow us around that we can never go back too, that unreachable space in time. Definitely inspiring!
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