Damien Davis, Rachel Eulena Williams and Sun You “Assembly”

Damien Davis, Rachel Eulena Williams and Sun You “Assembly”

Mrs.

This event has ended.

Mrs. presents Assembly, an exhibition of new works by Damien Davis, Rachel Eulena Williams and Sun You. The word “assembly” is defined as the action of fitting together the component parts of a machine or other object; a group of people congregated together in one place for a common purpose; or the action of gathering together for a universal goal. This exhibition has been inspired by this word and this action, bringing together three artists working within unique mediums, challenging the typical notions of painting and sculpture.

Energized by a recent residency in Santiago Chile, Damien Davis’ new works take their influence from various points in Chile’s history, attempting to form a confluence of historical reference points. Constructed from plexi-glass and stainless steel hardware on panel, these works expand upon his practice of unpacking the visual language of cultures both domestic and abroad, questioning how cultures code and decode representations of “blackness” in its myriad of interpretations. With the recent protests in Chile heavily influencing numerous protests here in the United States, these works build a connecting bridge, linking the two countries’ shared histories of national expansion, governmental turmoil, and political activism.

Rachel Eulena Williams’ sculptural paintings continue an experimental approach to painting’s materials. For this exhibition, Williams uses traditional painting panels as pedestals, in the fashion a sculptor would use a pedestal to hold an object. These panels contain cut, sewn and painted canvas. These new structures allow drawing and mark making to come from the physicality of the objects and their relationship to paint. Willams’ works confront the form of abstract image by incorporating sculptural techniques. Often employing rope, transforming its nature, she creates relief marks; a history of moving objects are made across the surface in this newly defined process of painting. Williams’ works are fundamentally a study of memory, looking at how the life of the object, the individual, and tradition cohere into a worldview, questioning the relationship between perception and reality.

Sun You’s work overlaps the spheres of fine art, craft and home decoration. The artist’s abstract wall panels are both paintings and low relief sculptures. The association with domesticity and baking is reinforced in her hand-building techniques of rolling, pinching polymer clay and firing the works in an oven. The included tabletop sculptures loosely reference Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Within these sculptures she utilizes objects such as eyelash extensions, razor blades, beads, screws and earrings. In combining these materials the artist references “women’s work,” craft, the ready made and the language of abstraction. These works draw beauty and humor from humble materials and is a reflection on the joy, pathos and fragility of daily existence.

Media

• Painting
• Sculpture

ADVERTISE ON NYAB