Julia Kunan

Sheila Pepe says Kunin’s most recent work has a clear affinity with the specific craft traditions of the Austro-Hungarian regions, a second home. Influenced strongly by the aesthetics of Middle Europe, at first
glance Kunin’s ceramics seem in tune with the syncopated, metallic
compositions of Gustav Klimt. However, all kinds of painterly effects.

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Sarah Rosalena

Elizabeth Buhe at Brooklyn Rail has words about Sara’s Star Rose, Rose Star at Sargent’s Daughters, and notes the works in Star Rose, Rose Star at combine emerging and Indigenous technologies, including dying, weaving, beading, and basketry, some of which Sarah Rosalena learned from her Wixárika relatives.
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Excursus

I started painting on glass largely due to inspiration after visiting an exhibit of Light and Space artists. I had been hoarding the stuff, I’ll say… subconsciously because the affinity for this work resonated through the material. I also had the pleasure of seeing the well known work to which the title of this blog refers by Robert Irwin (who is my favorite and influenced me greatly) at Dia in the early ‘aughts (when Dia was still in Chelsea). It had a huge impact on what I thought Art could be- definitely an instance where photographs do not convey the impact of a work.

I completed the piece below recently which has, for me, a small amount of reverence for if not reference to this work, which made me more curious about it. In googling for more info on Excursus (which, in literature, means “a departure from the main topic”) I found the title actually included a reference to Albers- it’s full title is “Excursus: Home to the Square3.”

Mind. Blown.

I titled the work (which should ideally be viewed in a space where it can be lit by ultraviolet or “black” lighting, another homage to the Light & Space movement) “departure from the main topic“. I assume that, through his title for his work, Irwin was referencing his oft-sited belief that art is not about objects- objects being the “main subject” not just of Art but specifically of Modernism. I think we should conclude this is his intention with pointing to Albers in the title as well. I also assume that, as always, Irwin’s work here is about the shape of our perceptions. I didn’t think I could love Irwin more but… thanks, universe.

Titles have certainly become much more important to me in the last year+ as I recounted in this essay about experiencing Stanley Brouwn’s work and my actions afterward (which were my first experiment with AI), and have elaborated on in statements about titles for the works “through” and also “CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O” (the latter takes you to Instagram). You can see my other current paintings in this growing body of work here.

Emam Gbewonyo

is a British-Ghanaian artist and curator living in London, and is the founder of the Black British Female Artist (BBFA) Collective – a platform that supports Black women artists. Gbewonyo studied BA European Textile Design at Bradford School of Art and Design and began her career as a knitwear designer in New York. Following six years in the industry, redundancy prompted her return to the UK and subsequent career change. Her art practice investigates identity, womanhood in particular, whilst advocating the healing benefits of craft.

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