My good friend Fiona Short traveled from New Zealand via Glasgow where she is currently based to spend two and a half weeks with us preparing for our upcoming two-person show To Arrive Where We Started at 2739Edwin in Hamtramck in Detroit. We’ve been enjoying working steadily in the studio together in anticipation of the show.
To Arrive Where We Started | Amy Sacksteder and Fiona Short
18 August – 15 September 2012
Exhibition Public Reception: Saturday August 18 from 7 to 10pm
Regular Hours: 1pm – 5pm Saturday. Other hours by appointment
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We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. T. S. Eliot
The exhibition “To Arrive Where We Started” grew out of conversations between Ypsilanti based Amy Sacksteder and New Zealander Fiona Short about common themes in their artistic practices. The title, a quote from T.S. Eliot, can be read as a summing up of their respective global wanderings or as a shared tendency of returning to earlier work to see what more it can reveal with time. Either way it indicates awareness of balancing new experience with reflection and looking again.
Sacksteder’s work is rooted in painting and drawing, but for this show might also include installation. Combining source material from her surroundings, life experiences and historical context, and often incorporating landscape and natural imagery, she constructs documents of time and place that are both beautiful and complexly referenced.
Short’s subtle and enigmatic photographs are grounded in the ordinary and are as much about the process of looking as about what is being looked at. Her images reveal a sense of place and order, engaging the viewer in the way that a quiet voice may command attention. One senses that for Short, each image is a small lesson, a discovery of unexpected delight, and that each photograph is an opportunity to communicate this discovery.
Biographies
Amy Sacksteder received a BA in English from the University of Dayton in 2001 and an MFA in painting from Northern Illinois University in 2004. She currently lives and works in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where she is an Associate Professor of Art at Eastern Michigan University.
Fiona Short completed her MFA at The Glasgow School of Art in 2009 and has since travelled to New Zealand, Iceland and the US to participate in residencies and exhibitions. She currently lives and works in Glasgow, and teaches in the Continuing Education Department at The Glasgow School of Art.
The two artists met at the SÍM Residency Reykjavik in June 2010.
you do not me
ink, gouache and correction tape on collaged paper
22″ x 30″
2011
For an exhibition centering around Borges’ “The Library of Babel” coming up at the UM Residential College Art Gallery, curated by Jason Wright. Opening Friday night, December 2, 5-7 p.m.
This last week, 12 artists (of the 22 in the show) descended on the Ypsi/Detroit area to install work, conduct crits and attend the openings and lecture surrounding this exhibition, curated by myself and EMU’s Gallery Director Greg Tom.
Island has been a year in the making and the week involved group dinners, lazy European breakfasts, tours of galleries, museums and other sites in Ypsi, Ann Arbor and Detroit. It was a wonderful reunion for those artists who were all at SÍM together last June and a great opportunity to meet new people for everyone else. Thanks to all who were involved and attended!
If you’re in the area, the shows will be up through December 12. Check EMU’s Art Department website for hours and contact someone at ‘CAVE for an appointment to view that exhibition.
Map of the Becoming, archival inkjet print collage; reconfigurable, approximately 28″ x 11″, 2011
On Saturday night a group of area artists gathered at Gabe and Jennifer Hillebrand‘s home for a sort-of salon-style opening of a one-night show called Diverge, curated by Gabe. The point was to submit something that is a divergence from our customary practice.
Thanks to Gabe and Jen for hosting!
Non Native, a four-person show at Butter Projects, opened Saturday night, and despite a mess of freezing rain and snow, there was a great crowd. Here are some images from the opening and the show install.
Above: Katie Phillips
Above: Katie Phillips, Amy Sacksteder and Chido Johnson
Above: Katie Phillips, Chido Johnson and Kyohei Abe
Above: Amy Sacksteder and Chido Johnson
Above: part of my Last Map series installed in new, custom-made frames. Reclaimed oak frames by Matt O’Brien (with white finishing by me). Framing done by Molly Nuzzo.
Thanks to Alison, Jacklyn, Kelly, and Elizabeth for a great opening!
The opening of Fixing the Sky on Thursday night was well attended. People really seemed to like the work and there were two entrancing sets of music by Brett Hool, half of the singer-songwriter duo Hool, managed by our new friend Yannick. They brought a video of Brett’s that played in the background, which added another dimension to the exhibition/performance.
There was a lot of wine, new friends, and a fun kaleidoscope to play with (see the amazing image of Yannick below). Nicole and I were both surprised when old friends from grad school showed up. My childhood friend Meghan, now an attorney in Manhattan, also trekked down to Brooklyn for the festivities and was kind enough to host me for the five days I was in New York. Brick & Mortar (Helen’s loft) was a perfect setting for the event.
Helen, me and Nicole in front of the Island Projects installation Fixing the Sky. Check out my and Nicole’s site for more images of the installation.
Saturday morning, we hosted a brunch. It was wonderful to see the show in the daylight. We had a good crowd at that event as well, including friends from Michigan, Jen and Walter. Jen had video work in the Media Lounge at the concurrent College Art Association conference. Walter was pleased that a childhood friend, who lives only a train stop away in Brooklyn, was able to make it to the brunch.
Thanks to Nicole for flying in from Iceland, Helen for hosting and organizing, to Hool and Yannick for lending their talents and to everyone who came out. It was great to meet and see so many wonderful people!
My work: Out of the Blue and Into the Black 5.1 and 9.1
My work: Out of the Blue and Into the Black: 2.2, 12.1 and 1.1
Above images: Nicole Pietrantoni
Above images: Helen Dennis
Installation: Island Projects
Thursday night was our opening for the three-person exhibition Fixing the Sky, which took place at Brick & Mortar in Brooklyn. The turn-out for the opening Thursday and Brunch Saturday were great. I’ll post images of those events soon.
Island Projects (Amy Sacksteder and Nicole Pietrantoni) is official! We now have a few more shows lined up and a brand new website. Check out our Exhibitions page for info on the shows, including one in New York next month to coincide with the College Art Association Conference, February 9-12.
Ice Above, Fire Below | color transparencies, thread, cyanotypes and lithographs | dimensions variable (this installation approximately 96″ wide) | 2010, in collaboration with Nicole Pietrantoni, SÍM House, Reykjavík, Iceland.
Friday night was the opening of the residents’ exhibition, dubbed The Supreme Council of Higher Beings. There was some great work in the show and Mark was involved in an exciting collaboration/interactive music and sound-based performance with our friends Jan and Beer. It turned the opening into a party. A lot of people showed up and the residents received great feedback about all of the work, including an interactive Venn diagram connecting artists and related people in Iceland by Rebecca Key.
One of the best outcomes of this November residency has been meeting and and beginning a collaborative partnership with American artist Nicole Pietrantoni. She is in Iceland for a year on a Fulbright fellowship and a Leifur Eiriksson Foundation grant. This installation was our first collaborative endeavor.
