The Changes Wrought
Loney Abrams & Johnny Stanish
Bea Fremderman
Erika Hickle
Dana Lok
Tanya Merrill
Sydney Shen
July 12th - August 18th, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 12th, 6 - 9 pm
Loney Abrams & Johnny Stanish
Bea Fremderman
Erika Hickle
Dana Lok
Tanya Merrill
Sydney Shen
July 12th - August 18th, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 12th, 6 - 9 pm
“Is it not odd, is it not incongruous, is it not, in the highest sense of human speech, incredible, that we should think so highly of the ginger-beer, and regard so little the devouring earthquake?”
- Robert Louis Stevenson
A boy kneels down in the grass, his new blue jeans immediately stained. Scrabbling at the dirt in front of him he rips up a few blades, ties them into small knots and lays them on the ground behind him. Then, more violently, the boy jams his fingers into the ground, his nails digging, pushing, creating a small trough. Pushing a stick down and in, he uses it as a lever, removing a clod of dirt. The soil is cold to the touch as he reaches down into the hole.
The end of a worm has been uncovered. The boy stops, quieted by the sudden presence. He grabs at it, gently pulling the worm from its hiding spot. In a practiced gesture, the boy holds the worm from either end and ties it into a knot. Holding the wriggling knot up to his eye, the boy smiles. Then, happy with his work, he tosses it over his left shoulder.
The worm feels alive for the first time. The tree above grows closer and closer, the leaves beginning to glow yellow from the sunshine behind. It did not know there was so much space in the world. Its knotted body stretches, but cannot reach the low limb approaching. The worm gets close enough to see the caterpillars perched on a leaf, chewing softly, and then it falls.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
A boy kneels down in the grass, his new blue jeans immediately stained. Scrabbling at the dirt in front of him he rips up a few blades, ties them into small knots and lays them on the ground behind him. Then, more violently, the boy jams his fingers into the ground, his nails digging, pushing, creating a small trough. Pushing a stick down and in, he uses it as a lever, removing a clod of dirt. The soil is cold to the touch as he reaches down into the hole.
The end of a worm has been uncovered. The boy stops, quieted by the sudden presence. He grabs at it, gently pulling the worm from its hiding spot. In a practiced gesture, the boy holds the worm from either end and ties it into a knot. Holding the wriggling knot up to his eye, the boy smiles. Then, happy with his work, he tosses it over his left shoulder.
The worm feels alive for the first time. The tree above grows closer and closer, the leaves beginning to glow yellow from the sunshine behind. It did not know there was so much space in the world. Its knotted body stretches, but cannot reach the low limb approaching. The worm gets close enough to see the caterpillars perched on a leaf, chewing softly, and then it falls.
american medium is proud to present The Changes Wrought, a group exhibition of sculpture and painting with new work by Loney Abrams & Johnny Stanish, Bea Fremderman, Erika Hickle, Dana Lok, Tanya Merrill, and Sydney Shen.
The works in The Changes Wrought focus on how perspectival shifts, outward and inward, amend how we view the context, makeup, and ideation of a moment. The objects act as metaphorical pivots, acting between potential futures and an examined past. There is a hope that by cementing something in time, by explicating the nature of it, we can broaden its history and expand our knowledge of the future. There is a fallacy to this notion, of course, but an optimism as well. A coin, mid-toss, frozen in time, will never land head or tails - it just stays there, suspended, spinning. The works in The Changes Wrought focus on that moment, before the fall and after the ascent.
The works in The Changes Wrought focus on how perspectival shifts, outward and inward, amend how we view the context, makeup, and ideation of a moment. The objects act as metaphorical pivots, acting between potential futures and an examined past. There is a hope that by cementing something in time, by explicating the nature of it, we can broaden its history and expand our knowledge of the future. There is a fallacy to this notion, of course, but an optimism as well. A coin, mid-toss, frozen in time, will never land head or tails - it just stays there, suspended, spinning. The works in The Changes Wrought focus on that moment, before the fall and after the ascent.