THE FOCUS

My sculptures reflect the sensibility that an object stands as a momentary physical manifestation of an ongoing process. They provide evidence of unseen forces, and they point to the distinction between the human and the non-human. Throughout the natural world, unexpected complexity emerges from simple, persistent processes. Ben Butler, Old Growth, 2017, painted steel, 24' x 22' x 4' Ben Butler, Studio Visit, October 2017 Ben Butler, Vertebrates, 2017, OSB board and douglas fir 2x4's, 8' x 38' x 31' Ben Butler,...

Every day we make countless attempts to memorialize our experiences. We snap photographs, collect souvenirs, and spend hours re-imagining past events. Collectively, we hoard objects in museums, build altarpieces, and canonize stories in books and theater. Through various forms of representation, we create surrogates for the irretrievable histories we long to preserve. However, efforts to present complete and accurate versions of history are often romanticized abstractions. Mary Laube, Studio Visit, November 2017 Mary Laube, Studio Visit, November 2017 Mary Laube, Studio Visit,...

I pursue interaction and perception from my role as observer, occupied by the unremarkable and in the relationships that exist within our everyday exchanges. I am interested in the ordinary and the staged, the potential for theatricality within the banality of the everyday. Drawing from the quotidian and familiar, I navigate the space between seeing and describing, interpretation and invention. Christina Renfer Vogel, Studio Visit, November 2017 Christina Renfer Vogel, Studio Visit, November 2017 Reflecting direct...

Sucsy creates abstract paintings that negotiate boundaries. She investigates the exchange between fragility, balance, and duplicity. Laurel Sucsy, Studio Visit, October 2017 Laurel Sucsy, Studio Visit, October 2017 Laurel Sucsy, Studio Visit, October 2017 Using color, scale and composition, her work embodies ideas of interdependency and a process of recognition, where relationships are ever shifting. In particular, she explores the effect of time as a component of perception. Laurel Sucsy, Studio Visit, October 2017 Laurel Sucsy, Studio Visit, October 2017 Laurel Sucsy, Studio Visit, October 2017...

Häxan Grant Barbour and I are collaborating on a shadow puppet performance that reimagines myths about witch trials and religious extremism in the 16th and 17th centuries in Germany, France and colonial America. Häxan is a series of shadow vignettes that portray mythical, carnal, and absurd relationships between the devil, the accuser, and the accused. Studio Visit, Johanna Winters + Grant Barbour, October 2017 Studio Visit, Johanna Winters + Grant Barbour, October 2017 Studio Visit, Johanna Winters + Grant Barbour, October 2017 Our interest in...

I paint with fire because it is the closest way to connect with nature. I light the candle, pick up my canvas and go underneath of it. The fire falls onto the canvas while I dance with my hand, like a conductor with music. I begin to see patterns that land onto the canvas and then I stop. This moment while I stop is the most important, it’s the time where I stop to look. Tara Walters, Studio Visit, Oc...

Photography began as an escape from the scholarly work that I felt I was continuously submerged in. The physically of taking a picture, rolling up the film, and developing it made me feel like I had to work for every frame I shot. The art I create is the only thing in my life I feel like is truly mine. Asafe Pereira, Studio Visit, September 2017 (photo credit: Asafe Pereira) Asafe Pereira, Studio Visit, September 2017 (photo credit: Asafe Pereira) Asafe Pereira,...

My work explores the visual culture of cartography, occult imagery, game boards, geographical souvenirs, and other structures of information that is altered to examine the relationship of identity, space, and place. The disruption of these visual systems reveals a thin boundary between the known and unknown, between knowledge and superstition. Nick DeFord, Studio Visit, August 2017 Nick DeFord, Studio Visit, August 2017 The repetitive hand-mechanical process used in stitching, layering, piercing or accumulation gives the work an added inference of compulsivity, craft,...