DAWN CERNY
The Coconut Effect
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
Dylan Olive Dornfeld - Spring 2024 intern
When I see Dawn’s work, I am instantly captured by the playfulness and intimacy of these pieces. They are glimpses into the life of the Mother and the ideology of items of furniture… an object that you use every day. There is an ephemeral quality to these pieces as well, which relates to the idea of motherhood and my own mother; I am reminded by the coupons of my purse, where old business cards and receipts reside in my care, too. Dawn uses drawings, ephemera, and a slew of various unconventional materials to create and inform the sculptural bodies that coincide with them. The intention is not to “impress,” but instead to exhibit a way of being. My favorite piece from the show must be “Varicose Blossoms for no Man.” To me, there is an especial sense of home… from the keys dangling on the side of the object, the coupons and brochures, and the old garden-esque wire that hangs on the bottom of the piece. Her constructed composition and meticulous placement of objects hold me in this piece, and I am reminded of the maternal figures in my life and a sense of childhood and comfort.
Johanna Eunchae Yim - Spring 2024 intern
I walk around the space for The Coconut Effect and feel more aware of the gallery space itself. Dawn’s works explore how drawings can be extended to a physical space that pushes how a piece of artwork is meant to be framed in a gallery. She plays with the forms of her gestural drawings/paintings reflected in the housed sculpture. It brings a sense of nostalgia akin to children’s picture books. Dawn’s work takes an abstract gestural form of a sculpture and drawing, giving it a character like a children’s book. “Smock Pocket for Waves” fascinates me in extending a drawing to a physical space. A hook is poking out of the ink, drawing from the board out to the viewer. At the end of the hook, a dangling metal wire mimics the same form of the drawing. It changes the dynamic of the orange mat board and drawing as if the wire springs out from the paper into the viewer. The sculpture comes to life with character by inhabiting the space for the viewer. It recalls the ideas as a child of making domestic household objects into playful characters to interact with.
Grace Gasser - Fall 2023/Spring 2024 intern
Dawn’s work is so special. I had the joy of assisting with the installation of Dawn’s work, and her bright, whimsical energy and kindness is reflected in her art. Her creative genius is involved not only in the pieces themselves but also in creating an immersive space for the viewer to explore. “The Coconut Effect” is like nothing I have seen before. It combines the process with the outcome, the “everyday” with the extraordinary. These pieces spoke to me as an artist because they represent a very real push and pull between ambitions and everyday limitations. To be human is to find a balance between working towards your dreams and working with the flow of what life throws your way. It is easy to grow frustrated with the clutter of a modern existence, to write off little things as unimportant or insignificant; a receipt from getting takeout yesterday, a twist tie from the bread you bought last week. But this clutter all has a purpose, and the accumulation of the “mundane,” the distraction of the everyday, does not have to signify failure, it does not have to be separate from art. Dawn’s work reminded me that life is never a straight line, and if you look at all of the world, every little tiny thing it has to offer, as a part of a process that doesn’t have one designated “correct” path, disruptions become a little less overwhelming. The unexpected is your friend, you just need to work with it, not against it.
DIANE CHRISTIANSEN & JESSIE MOTT
Scissors Is Our Love Language
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
Grace Gasser - Fall/ Spring 2023 intern
Scissors is our love language is a peek into a whimsical world of dark and light. Artists Diane Christiansen and Jessie Mott combine their two separate "worlds" in this collaborative exhibit that explores the tragic and the absurd along with the silly. Christiansen and Mott joined forces to re-work and combine old pieces to create new meaning as well as collaborating real-time on paintings. The creative voices of both artists are harmonious throughout each piece and each new work seems like a window into a wonderfully peculiar existence. I am fascinated by Christiansen's and Mott's collaborative process and enjoy the underlying theme of relationships that resonates from this body of work. The process of building a close relationship through trusting each-other's creative decisions is a unique and special element of "Scissors is our Love Language". I can confidently say that each work in this exhibit excites a new emotion and curiosity in me but my personal favorites are "Percival," "Twins," "Kickstand," and "Evangeline." I am extremely drawn to the creatures that are present in these pieces and their distinctly human and inhuman elements. The similarities in each creature throughout these pieces allows me to form a vague idea of a world populated by these beings that I am excited and intrigued by.
Parker Hurkman- Fall/Spring 2023 Intern
This exhibition featuring the art of Jessie Mott and Diana Christiansen encapsulates the trust, love, and friendship that these two artists have for one another. Mott and Christiansen seamlessly meshed and weaved each other's unfinished artwork together to create entirely new work. The works don't rely on backstory or narrative, rather they exude emotion and feeling that the viewer basks in. I enjoy the themes of friendship and collaboration present in a lot of these works and the process in which they were made is unique and inspiring. I particularly love the piece "Get A Room". Mott and Christiansen worked on this piece simultaneously creating a painting that holds endless discovery. Their process is a dance of intuition, each person adding their input or touch to each work of art. Another piece I enjoy is "Suzy", the colors are electric and the piece is figurative yet abstract. I admire so much how these artists can alter and transform their art and infuse their work with a spirit of playfulness. I'm excited to follow these artists to see what they come up with next.
KYOUNG AE CHO
From My Garden
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
Parker Hurkman- Fall 2023 intern
In her exhibition From My Garden, artist Kyong Ae Cho weaves herself into nature to explore a common language. As humans, we often forget that we are also part of nature. Through her work, Cho strives to understand nature better. Her art gives these pieces of nature, that are typically ignored, a second life. Cho's impeccable craftsmanship is clear throughout her pieces, her work is incredibly delicate and fragile. She has a clear respect and care for the materials that she uses. Her work feels like a conversation between humanity and the world around us. My personal favorite is Remains VIII-Il, I love the way the stitching goes around the organic shapes of the the leaf. I also love Paused, I viewed this piece as a literal interpretation of the "Natural Order". Each cube has its place and role in the order just as how things in nature have their role and purpose to sustain life.
Alayn Kirk - Spring 2023 Intern
In FROM MY GARDEN, Kyoung Ae Cho explores hand-sewing natural materials on silk organza as a meditative practice, using what she grows in her garden as a basis for her work. The home and the garden are a place of peace, providing materials like dandelion, maple, and corn to foster creation. Her extremely delicate handwork is to be closely observed, allowing the viewer to experience the frailty of the leaves and plant life she straight stitches into each piece. Such a simplistic but unique look at the delicacy of nature and the cycles of life allows the viewer to contemplate the fragile, fine lines of life and regrowth as they exist in the outside world. A study of these works are sure to give the viewer an experience of the meditative feeling that Cho evoked during their creation.
KG
HERE COMES THAT FEELING
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
Jenny Lee - Fall 2022 Intern
The exhibition HERE COMES THAT FEELING by the artist KG explores poetry through woven textiles and found objects. Inspired by music and places they visit, they bring a piece of an adventure back into their works whether it is fries, a tree branch or paper clips. Each piece individually daunts viewers to peek closer at the colorful and textured details of the narrative. The peculiar objects challenge KG to approach each textile differently by allowing the materials to live in the window of the pieces. The small-scaled work intimately plays with breaking the bounds of the rectangular shape with hanging strings or metal wire complimenting the unique individual works. An imaginative body of work compels viewers to use their five senses in recognition of the items alluding to a narrative and their desire to feel the texture of every line of thread.
Raegan Glaser - Fall 2022 Intern
HERE COMES THAT FEELING by the artist KG is an exploration of the different aspects of life intertwining through woven material. KG, takes inspiration from music and tarot cards along with lived experiences. Music allows the artist to connect to different lyrics as well as nostalgic moments, while the tarot brings them promises of the future. KG allows for each aspect of the experience to be done with creative intent and meaning. The artist curated the exhibition themselves, stating that the method of displaying the pieces takes root in the importance of each piece no matter the size. KG is a Gemini and has created many of the pieces with the intention of having a twin, often this is done by similar loom size or subject exploration. This exhibit is able to flawlessly accept and portray that each story from their life is intersectional and has ultimately created something beautiful.
Malachi Baer - Spring 2023 Intern
In HERE COMES THAT FEELING by the artist KG, we enter the daily explorations of their life from walking their dog, phone calls, outings with friends, and more. The materials found woven together come from these daily moments. These adventurous materials then become more intimate as they enter KG's home and find more ways to interweave and mingle in the home creating a deeper story with the artist. With multiple works being created at once, KG than jams in their space, thinking about what to work with, what colors should be there, what textures should they capture, and literally jamming objects in trying to make sense of what works for the narrative. With the smaller scale of the works the viewers can capture those life experiences as they view beautiful snapshots into KG's life.
IMI HWANGBO
Reverie
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
Jenny Lee - Spring 2022 intern
Imi Hwangbo's exhibition is composed of methodical 3-D sculptural compositions of geometric patterns and flower motifs stemming from Korean decorative patterns. Her artworks draw viewers in to experience these pieces up close to notice the intricate layers in the cut paper reliefs. The precision in her works create an optical illusion that play with light and shadow. Her tightly rendered Constructed Drawings transition into her Constructed Prints with a looser compositional cut paper relief. The media itself opens up a conversation to the subject matter's delicacy. Hwangbo translates how a drawing can become sculptural.
Raegan Glaser - Fall 2022 intern
Imi Hwangbo's body of work tackles moments of dematerialization of a modern lifestyle and how detached one may become due to digital influences. This work creates objects of meditation in hopes to bring viewers back to ones body. The idea of meditation through the work continues through the large amount of energy expended in creating as each piece shows high levels of precision that is created predominately by hand. Hwangbo has previous sculptural training that she uses as a preparatory step along with drawing, however this also connects to her personal metaphor about space and its ties to freedom. Allusions to space are also contemplated through Hwangbos influence of Buddhist Temples, as the patterns reference infinity while allusions to three dimensional forms become a transformative space that one must decide weather or not they are willing to enter.
CAROLINE KENT
Writing Forms
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
TAYLAR GERGEN - Spring 2020 intern
In Caroline Kent’s exhibition “Writing Forms”, she takes her viewer on a journey through her own curiosity. This curiosity entails the exploration of language, abstraction, painting, and where those lines may blur. Kent carefully considered the layout of Hawthorn, responding to the space in a way for the viewer to “consider language as a form not to be translated but deciphered”.
The show consists of a series of four paintings joined by frames made specifically to invite the viewer to intimately engage with the work, a largescale painting accompanied by a wooden sculpture, and a form painted directly on the wall of the gallery with two smaller wooden sculptures on each side. The artist has subtly blurred the lines of language and painting throughout the installation where as a viewer, those blurred lines greeted me, sometimes unexpectedly, as I explored her abstractions.
An example of this is in her wooden sculpture where it takes on the similar shape of a podium. As you step up to it, you feel as though a speech is to be made. Another is her two small wooden sculptures on each side of the form married to the wall. They resemble quotation marks. Kent is already blurring those lines where a line may exist no longer as she continues on her expedition of curiosity.
DOM MILLER - Spring 2020 intern
Caroline Kent’s Writing Forms is a careful curation of work that explores language through painting and sculpture. Viewing Caroline’s work was a very engaging and thought-provoking experience for me. The interaction felt similar to a conversation in the sense that there was a back-and-forth between the viewer and the paintings. As I spent time with each work, I would continue to find new things that I hadn't noticed before.
In her four-part series of paintings on paper in this exhibition, it is evident that she considered engaging the viewer through the design of the display as well as the content of the work itself. The paintings are housed in frames that are constructed in a way that partially obstructs the image unless the viewer is directly in front of it. This design sparked my curiosity and encouraged me to look closer.
Writing Forms also features a large-scale painting on unstretched canvas, a wooden sculpture, and a form painted directly on the wall of the gallery.
DOMINIC CHAMBERS & SAMUEL WEINBERG
Chambers & Weinberg
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
REAGAN MULVEY - Fall 2019 intern
The Dominic Chambers/Samuel Weinberg exhibition provides a nuanced glimpse into the human experience. Within this show, paintings serve to explore the impact of community and environment on the perception of the individual. Figures cast around the room capture interactions between humans and otherworldly forces, transforming the otherwise mundane into a fantastical narrative. Through a combination of unexpected mediums, the subject matter carries a sense of universality which allows the viewer to connect to a concept in a variety of ways. This exhibition demonstrates the remarkable versatility of each artist. Their ability to combine seemingly lackadaisical mark making with purposeful and precise rendering inspires my own approach to art-making.
SARAH FITZSIMONS
Ocean Objects
INTERN PERSPECTIVES:
MEGAN DUERLINGER - Summer/Fall 2019 intern
Experiencing Sarah FitzSimons' Ocean Object has given me a number of perspectives on both the process and the concept of art making. The importance of research in the creative process and how that translates a message to the viewer. Every ocean current reflected in the stitching and specific topography of the water, dignified by the different values and temperatures of blue, show how information can be as vast and significant as the Pacific Ocean. In combination with the credibility of replicating the Pacific Ocean, the intimacy of the material choices also captured Sarah's intended concept. Each inch, representing 25 miles, is felt in every joint of the connected materials. The placement of the quilt finalized the concept, for me. Every time I stepped in the gallery, the quilt maintained its presence as both a vast ocean of obstacles while ironically wrestling with an invitation for comfort.
BEN HERBERT - Summer 2019 intern
Akin to nature itself, Pacific Quilt is both organic and free flowing, while also being meticulously designed and mathematically crafted. This precise attention to detail is present not only in the work, but also in Sarah’s thoughtful utilization of the space. Assisting Sarah throughout the installation process allowed me to gain insight into the decisions that go into how visitors interact with and perceive artwork in a space. For example, the placement of Pacific Quilt in the gallery makes visitors aware of their location in the room, and encourages them to consider themselves in relation to the locations represented in the piece. Working with Sarah provided me insight into how to effectively display work as well as the artistic process as a whole.
REMA GHULUOM
Pink Sky, Red Sea
Expressive, atmospheric and rich in texture, Ghuluom pulls from her everyday experience in her studio and its surroundings. Working intuitively, she navigates these internal and external environments; she writes, “The ways in which one sees, feels, recalls, and absorbs an experience fascinate me and I consider how this can be translated and transformed through painting.”
LIZ MILLER
Proliferative Calamity
The artifice of Miller’s sculptural environments reminds us that the illusion is fleeting. She writes: “The sculptural aspects of the work, created through simple manipulation of mundane materials, play with the precariousness of our perceptions and the fallibility of infrastructure. While at the outset the works seem elaborate, closer inspection reveals the precarious nature of their construction and the mundane materiality that comprises the elaborate façade.”
ANDREA CHUNG
The Mess You Made
For The Mess You Made, Chung focuses on “the legacies of tools and their unintended use in the hands of the colonized.” Each tool, made and cast from sugar, is hung and cast in overwhelming amounts to create an enveloping installation. These objects are not only symbolic of a much larger story, the material sugar also speaks volumes.
JUAN ÁNGEL CHAVEZ
Stayin' Alive
Stayin’ Alive features a variety of work including: Gramophone, a 12ft3 installation, two assemblages titled Chief Wonder and KOKA, as well as a variety of prints. Encompassing the nostalgia of sound and place, Gramophone is built with its own disassembly in mind. The piece comments on the temporality of shelter and refuge as it hangs from the center of the gallery, creating a tent-like structure. The assemblages made of fishing line and rope come from Chavez’s memory of time spent fishing in Mexico as a kid. Chavez recalls how his line used to get tangled. Now, as line and rope entangle within each assemblage, a connective thread of human migration, adaptability, and influence within the urban sphere appear. Binaries of dystopia versus utopia, tension versus suspension, and human needs versus wants are symbolically played out.
NICOLA LÒPEZ
Relics, Fibs, Trash, and Treasures
Relics, Fibs, Trash, and Treasures includes an expansive installation titled Salvage as well as six prints from López’s Urban Transformation series. Salvage, a continuously evolving index of the artist’s semiotics, incorporates prints, photographs and drawings intermingled with found objects. Bits of chain link fencing, orange mesh barriers, barbed wire and scaffolding are systematically taped and pinned to the wasll. With specific attention to the individual materials, we are able to examine their history and reimagine the salvaged item’s future.