growing sideways
Madelyne Beckles, Dahae Song, and Hannah Spector
Curated by Kate Benedict and Tamara Hart
April 8 — May 7, 2017
Madelyne Beckles, Dahae Song, and Hannah Spector
Curated by Kate Benedict and Tamara Hart
April 8 — May 7, 2017
growing sideways explores the ways in which the politics of alienation inform the construction of the ‘self’ within identity formation and subject/object relations. The artists in this exhibition examine forms of alienation through contrasting lenses of expression, ultimately reconciling diverse sites of tension.
Madelyne Beckles’ Endless Scroll works within a feminist critical race framework to examine the ways in which power is exercised across gendered and sexualized bodies. The artist’s found objects and video work critique the capitalist commodification of female experiences and employ humour to reject sexist tropes that often occupy online platforms. Beckles addresses the ways in which identity and technology exist as a mutually reinforced system and critiques the alienating models of ‘successful femininity’ as she reflects on virtual landscapes as an extension of the self. Her work analyzes racialized female oppression under capitalism through an exploration of the self and the psychology behind constructed online identities.
Idiosyncratic and self-referential, Dahae Song’s site-specific installation, how to fill a void, examines human existence and identity formation within the context of virtual and corporeal spaces. Song’s raw canvas works transform their surroundings through disjointed limbs, impulsive patterns and subliminal brushstrokes. The abstracted forms construct a deeply personal aesthetic system; one reflective of incoherent memories, isolated emotions and pathological experiences. Song’s amorphous shapes are dictated by subconscious impulses; attempts to visualize psychological states and feelings of estrangement from internal and external worlds. The process of creating becomes a mechanism of control and provides a contemplative account of the ‘void’ that is a continual expansion of soul, mind, and emotion.
A poetic investigation of colour and form, Hannah Spector’s installation, people are all different temperatures all the time, explores themes of identity and consciousness. Drawing on Nietzche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra as a philosophical foundation for her work, Spector affirms that we must remove ourselves from society to overcome self-alienation. The artist’s minimal, non-hierarchical structures form a fluid space where the binary between subject/object dissolves and meaning becomes contingent on encounters. Spector’s spatial interventions weave together complex threads of existence and consciousness, allowing the viewer to dissolve into subtle abstractions and reconnect with the alienated ‘self’
Madelyne Beckles’ Endless Scroll works within a feminist critical race framework to examine the ways in which power is exercised across gendered and sexualized bodies. The artist’s found objects and video work critique the capitalist commodification of female experiences and employ humour to reject sexist tropes that often occupy online platforms. Beckles addresses the ways in which identity and technology exist as a mutually reinforced system and critiques the alienating models of ‘successful femininity’ as she reflects on virtual landscapes as an extension of the self. Her work analyzes racialized female oppression under capitalism through an exploration of the self and the psychology behind constructed online identities.
Idiosyncratic and self-referential, Dahae Song’s site-specific installation, how to fill a void, examines human existence and identity formation within the context of virtual and corporeal spaces. Song’s raw canvas works transform their surroundings through disjointed limbs, impulsive patterns and subliminal brushstrokes. The abstracted forms construct a deeply personal aesthetic system; one reflective of incoherent memories, isolated emotions and pathological experiences. Song’s amorphous shapes are dictated by subconscious impulses; attempts to visualize psychological states and feelings of estrangement from internal and external worlds. The process of creating becomes a mechanism of control and provides a contemplative account of the ‘void’ that is a continual expansion of soul, mind, and emotion.
A poetic investigation of colour and form, Hannah Spector’s installation, people are all different temperatures all the time, explores themes of identity and consciousness. Drawing on Nietzche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra as a philosophical foundation for her work, Spector affirms that we must remove ourselves from society to overcome self-alienation. The artist’s minimal, non-hierarchical structures form a fluid space where the binary between subject/object dissolves and meaning becomes contingent on encounters. Spector’s spatial interventions weave together complex threads of existence and consciousness, allowing the viewer to dissolve into subtle abstractions and reconnect with the alienated ‘self’