"Crafty"

An exhibition that examines the work of twenty-one contemporary artists who reappropriate materials. The exhibition includes artists who stitch and crochet consuming installations, cut and collage, carve, weld and whittle, and even latchhook compelling fine art. Nick Cave, Samantha Field, Kent Henricksen, Christian Holstad, Christina Mancuso, Beverly Semmes, and Lara Schnitger all use sewing in some way to create works that range from performance to installation, sculpture, painting, and video. Whether looking to decorative pattern designs (e.g. wallpaper,textiles) or delving into sexual subcultures (be it sexual, fetish or kitsch), these artists deftly thread their way through a traditionally docile medium. Kirsten Hassenfeld, Imi Hwangbo, John O'Reilly,Yuken Teruya, and Randal Thurston use the seemingly delicate craft of paper cutting, from collage to decoupage to quilling, to investigate Victorian refinement and fantasy, narrate personal histories, and explore form and line. Among the myriad materials used are shopping bags, toilet paper rolls, Polaroids, and vellum. Through knitting and crocheting Elaine Bradford, Rob Conger, Ruth Marshall, and Isabel Riley weave together themes of tragedy, whimsy, rebirth, and death. In their paintings, sculptures, and site specific installations, these artists are re examining nature while redefining manmade,documenting pop cultural sites, and refashioning a macrocosmic world.