Sana Musasama "The Unknown/The Unnamed"
June Kelly Gallery
This event has ended.
The Unknown/The Unnamed, Sana Musasama’s provocative new exhibition of ceramic sculptures – powerful homage to the victims of mankind’s unspeakable inhumanity to one another -- opens at the June Kelly Gallery.
In a statement, Musasama says, “This work was born out of the devastation of the 9/11 attacks and the hundreds of workers and others whose identity was buried under the rubble, the faceless whispers out of concentration camps, the endless mass graves throughout the world. It stems from my global travels (including Cambodia, Vietnam and Rwanda) into the homes and hearts of the people I've encountered; these pieces represent their silent voices, which remain Unknown/Unnamed.”
Musasama’s deeply felt sculptures reflect her unrelenting interest in and keen sensitivity to the human condition worldwide that she has witnessed as it played out in life dramas that tragically are accepted communal customs. Her earlier work focused attention on cruel societal secrets and practices – female genital mutilation, foot-binding – with serious physical and emotional consequences.
Her current body of painted and glazed ceramics no longer represents a call to take notice. Rather, these wall-mounted sculptures and assemblages collectively convey an overwhelming majesty not dissimilar to a requiem. Some with mesmerizing curvature are seen as evocative assemblages before it is noted the elements are relics of traumatizing life experiences, such as barbed wire and nails. Others, elongated ceramic forms, suggest scrolls that, in essence, are a roll call of unidentified victims.
The power of Musasama’s new sculptures arises from her forms and selection of iconic elements and the sense of reverence she achieves that make unforgettable our individual associations with the nameless and the voiceless.
Media
Schedule
from September 07, 2010 to October 05, 2010