Sharp Hands Gallery Fall/Winter 2022

CURATORS’ NOTES

In this fall/winter of our world’s discontent, we bring you a show that we hope can provide a little light in these dark months of the Northern Hemisphere.

German artist Svena Steinbrecher is fueled by the pursuit of the potential, embracing the elegant beauty of shadows, vellum, and thread in her contemplative creations.

Netherlands artist Zarka makes use of sly perspective shifts in collages that are stylish, humorous, and subtly inventive.

American artist, historian, and educator Todd Bartel shows us the beauty and sneaky innovation of his landscape collage series, which incorporates an incredibly steady hand and jigsaw precision to raise questions about how land is framed, both figuratively and literally. Be sure to watch the film for deeper understanding on Todd’s ideas and process.

Bay area artist Anthony Grant attempts (and succeeds) at slowing down time and the stream of buzzes and beeps of the modern world. A painterly looseness in his collage work is made even more playful with touches of mischievous print markings.

allison anne (Minneapolis) layers textures, colors, and memory-laden artifacts, combining them into collages that are both alive and haunting. We can almost feel how each bold element on the page was shifted around until it found its perfect placement in conversation with the other shapes amidst the tactile negative space.

Soo Hong (Seattle) stretches her own sense of “multiple identities” with her array of different styles and sizes of collage and painting, embracing play as both her catalyst and her invitation to the viewer to participate. Each piece feels poetic even without the actual text features, with mark making, the rhythmicity of the elements, and one piece could even conjure a silent haiku.

Thank you for experiencing these creations with us. We hope you enjoy the show, all works are available for purchase with 100% of proceeds going directly to the artists.

Cheryl Chudyk & Kevin Sampsell, curators