Make Yourself at Home
September 14 — November 11, 2023
"Make Yourself At Home" explores the emotional attachment to objects we see and use every day, as well as the ambiguity of domestic spaces. Domestic spaces are inhabited by people with their unique stories, as well as by objects that carry these stories, serving as silent witnesses to moments of joy, love, happiness, sorrow, or solitude. These places of things can be shared, inherited, passed from one generation to another, from friend to friend, or even from stranger to stranger. Sometimes, domestic spaces can be challenging. This is where people are left alone with their thoughts, whether they want it or not.
The work of Grace Qian, a Canadian artist currently living in New York, unravels the contradictory experiences that arise within shared households, where she resides with individuals across different countries and time frames. Within the tapestry of this home, she synthesizes contemporary visual languages that encompass space and bodies, in a celebratory exploration of the tension inherent to individuals within their domestic environments. She doesn't romanticize domestic spaces but embrace their eerie familiarity as her primary medium. In navigating the paradox of impediment and continuity, both within occupied spaces and the haunting void that lingers when human presence is removed, her work questions the extent of our connection and potential belonging to our homes. Accumulated contradictions add vitality to the essence of existence. Images become engravings, and memories become spectral.
Rita Ackermann's paper collage works from the early 2000s are composed of torn-out magazine pages, used notebooks, and paper wrappings. Using just a few pen strokes, she transforms the remnants of household trash into visually striking images in which women are depicted fighting for their rights within domestic environments.
Trompe-l'œil and a blended surrealist and hyperrealistic approach are both used in the exhibiting sculptures as tools to shift perception and to understand the nature of spaces and objects themselves, as well as their true value. Kian McKeown aimed to create objects that project fictional histories or traumatic events. The paintings inside of his objects can be interpreted abstractly or as mental images, conveying the objects' memories of being dropped, lost, or forgotten. His works, overall, are meant to evoke misanthropic human emotions by anthropomorphizing everyday objects.
There's a cupboard presented in the show that could remind one of a very similar piece of furniture, which they might have seen in The New York Times article titled 'A Wished-For House With a Hideaway Nook,' written by Stephen P. Williams on May 13, 2007. This cupboard is from Darcey Steinke's Brooklyn house. Samuel Alexander Forest brilliantly transforms paper into hyper-realistic sculptures: his favorite shirts, his father's briefcase, a variety of rocks found when hiking with friends, or, in this case, cupboards from a dear friend's home. They all evoke emotional attachment, and, when alienated from their usual surroundings, these objects start to live very different lives. They strive to tell their personal stories. Forest recalls, 'As Darcey was giving her speech in her kitchen on Easter Sunday, I noticed her beautiful pine knot cupboards, whose spots around and on the handles showed how they've worn down. They are full of life from years of use, touch, and the presence of family and friends. In making a replica of a section of her cupboards, I yearn to convey the care and attention they revealed to me.'"
Piero Penizzoto started making papier-mâché sculptures embodying the (slightly) downsized figures of his relatives and friends during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unable to go to the studio, this was the only possible way to continue his artistic practice. 'Two Peas in a Pod' is a sculpture dedicated to his good friends, Chris (in the Pink Shirt) and Richard (in the Green Shirt). They've known each other for several years and were among the first friends who requested that the artist create a sculpture of them. 'I wanted to capture their beautiful relationship, as they have been together for quite some time. Together, we planned out different poses, and we all ended up liking the final one. The way Chris is gently leaning onto Richard, and in return, Richard is firmly supporting him,' explained Penizzoto. 'Like all relationships, there are times when one person may need to lean on the other more due to life's challenges, but it is those strong few who are able to overcome those challenges and emerge as a stronger couple. I believe Chris and Richard are among those strong few. I'd say my voice comes through with the hand holding that's happening behind Richard; it adds a delicate and substantial touch to the overall narrative of what a strong, healthy relationship is, being there for one another.'"
First visiting a ceramic studio, Colombian-born Pratt graduate Didi Rojas was fascinated by how physical it was and how one could essentially make anything out of clay or dirt. She then was inspired to create a ceramic shoe that retained realistic features. But her sculptures are not mere copies of original physical objects. She perceives them as self-portraits in many ways. They are enhanced with a sense of humor, Magrittesque details, and an unusual combination of familiar forms. Rojas believes they all serve the function of portraiture and can convey a great deal about a person.
Rita Ackermann (b. 1968 in Budapest, Hungary) is a contemporary Hungarian-born American painter, best known for her abstract, bodily works addressing issues of anthropomorphism and femininity. Frequently featuring nymph-like women and hints of fairy tales, her drawings, collages and paintings examine adolescent ennui through a personal language of lush and gestural mark-making. She studied at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and the New York Studio School.
Samuel Alexander Forest (b. 1998, Surabaya, Indonesia) maintains a primarily drawing-based practice. Through book, video, and sculpture forms, his works take special attention to overlooked everyday objects and slip across moments of poetry and humor. He received his BFA from the Cooper Union in 2021 and is a 2024 MFA candidate at NYU Steinhardt. He is exhibiting with 80WSE, Tutu Gallery, and LaiSun Keane in 2023.
Kian McKeown (b. 1999) is a 2021 BFA recepient of The Cooper Union. Technically skilled and conceptually creative, Kian utilizes a range of media including drawing, sculpture, collage, and installation to create diverse artworks, stylistically varied yet cumulatively engaging. In recent years Kian has produced intricately detailed and otherworldy drawings on paper and papier-mâché and sleekly subversive sculpture, while also creating works that meaningfully incorporate various locations throughout New York.
Piero Penizzotto (b. 1998) is a Peruvian-American artist based in Queens, NY. Penizzotto’s practice, primarily sculpture and painting, is presented as an ode to the friendships and communities he is a part of growing up in New York and South Florida. He recently graduated from Hunter College with honors with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art. Previous exhibitions include White Columns, New York (2023) and Public Access Gallery, New York (2022).
Didi Rojas (b. 1993 in Cali, Colombia) graduated with a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Previous group exhibitions include “In Search of Us,” MoMA PopRally, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2017); “Nothing In Isolation,” Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY (2018); “Melted City 4,” Yui Gallery, New York, NY (2018); “The Ashtray Show,” Fisher Parrish Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2018); “Maiden Form,” Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY (2018), “Read? Okay!,” Naughton Gallery at Queens University in Belfast, UK (2018) and “Clay Today,” The Hole, New York, NY (2018).
Grace Qian is a Canadian artist currently living and pursuing her BFA at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Grace had her first solo exhibition at the Arts Etobicoke Storefront Gallery in Toronto, Canada in February 2020, titled Becoming More. Her works have since been showcased in multiple exhibitions, including Liminal: Interstices Between and Betwixt at the Beaver Hall Gallery in Toronto, Canada, The 2022 Artist Project Art Fair, and Interconnection at SVA Galleries in NYC. Grace is the recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant in 2023.