NYAB Event - Jessica Jackson Hutchins "Kitchen Table Allegory"

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At Derek Eller Gallery
Media: Sculpture, Installation

Derek Eller Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Jessica Jackson Hutchins entitled Kitchen Table Allegory. Using materials such as papier-mâché, glitter, paper pulp, hand-made ceramics, photographs both found and taken, fragments of her family’s clothing, and furniture from her home, Hutchins imparts a mythic yet highly personal story. It is a story that touches on universal themes of frailty and compassion, unicorns and angels, the majesty of mountains and the beauty of nature’s minutiae. At the same time, Hutchins’ story is concerned with existence on a more personal scale: marriage and motherhood, the rituals of daily life, and making art.

These abstract narratives within Hutchins’ work are perhaps best exemplified in the show’s title piece, a large wooden dining table, the surface of which shows the residue of colored inks and the gouged-out tracks of a router. The table has been pulled apart, and in the center, where a leaf might be placed, is a large ceramic pot. Before arriving in her studio, this table was a fixture in her home, a focal point for gathering with family. And before it was disassembled and fitted with the ceramic, it functioned as a surface for making colorful, collaged monoprints, several of which are displayed throughout the gallery. From well-used domestic furniture to art-making vehicle and finally to work of art itself, the table slips seamlessly from one iteration to the next and back again.

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