Invisible forces: In the Compound Studio Artist Gallery: Opening Saturday the 6th of June 6-9pm6/3/2015 Opening this Saturday the 6th of June 6-9pm
So proud to be in this show with Amy Burek! Curated by the wonderful Toni Gentilli Please come visit me, Amy, Toni, Granny Josephine (above) and new works by Martin Webb and Lisa Wicka will be on display in the main gallery and the Fabrefaction gallery. INVISIBLE FORCES: AMY BUREK AND KATE MINK In the Compound Studio Artist Gallery June 6th – July 12th, 2015 1167 65th st, Oakland, CA Invisible Forces – Amy Burek and Kate Mink Curated by Toni Gentilli Microbes and memory can both play tricks on a person’s senses prompting one to momentarily act, think, or feel differently – unlike themselves – be it through an undetected illness or ambiguous yet intense recollection. Genetic code and photographs, on the other hand, reaffirm who we are in a conspicuous, tangible way, as physical evidence of evolution, familial lineage, and personal history. Two mixed-media artists, Amy Burek and Kate Mink use these corporeal phenomena to creatively manifest the invisible forces that influence us, whether hereditary or imaginary. Although these artists’ subject matter seem at odds with one another, they are equally mysterious and awe-inspiring. Together, Burek and Mink reveal that perhaps the distinction between the magic of twenty-first century biosciences and the beliefs of nineteenth century Spiritualism is less perceptible than we thought. Kate Mink constructs wistful mixed-media collages with found antique photographs and other historic ephemera. Her delicate work is tinged with equal parts beauty and melancholy, like Victorian mourning art made with human hair twisted and woven into impossibly ornate designs that often enshrouded images of loved ones lost. Mink transforms anonymous portraits into familiars, shadowy silhouettes of possibly known but imperfectly remembered spirits from another time. She sews and screenprints onto them ectoplasm-like emanations and gilded auras reminiscent of Spirit Photography. Her work conjures the power that photographic images once held over us with the valency of a physical imprint, the light-traced visages of kith and kin to be held, cherished, and kept safely in a vest pocket or in the clasp of a locket, close to one’s heart. Mink’s clever use of carte de visites (personal calling cards that predate the internet, but in retrospect, functioned like an analog Facebook) demonstrates the imperceptible allure of charismatic personalities, regardless of our relation to them, our historic fascination with celebrity and self-aggrandizement, as well as an ongoing obsession with taking and collecting photographic images Amy Burek creates what at first glance appear to be straightforward silkscreen and letterpress prints unencumbered by extraneous decoration. Burek’s work, however, is anything but matter-of-fact. The imagery and information she layers together derive from her years working in microbiology. Through her art, Burek slyly offers insight into the horrifying and humorous aspects of the unseen world of bacteria, DNA, and biotoxins. Take for example the piece, Actinomycetales. The phrase “The Scent of Rain” is printed in sky blue across a halftone of an extreme close-up image captured beneath the lens of a scanning electron microscope. The work’s title refers to a soil-dwelling bacteria that produces an organic compound called geosmin, which is the source of the scent we associate with a summer storm. A related piece depicts Pseudomonas syringae, an airborne bacteria naturally present in the atmosphere. Scientists have determined that it is an ice-nucleating pathogen capable of inducing freezing conditions required for cloud formation and precipitation at warmer temperatures than inorganic particulate matter alone. Proteins isolated from Pseudomonas syringae are used in cloud seeding and artificial snow manufacture, proving that although it is impossible for us mere mortals to control the weather, with the help of bacteria, we can make it rain.
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