hush
hush is an exhibition of paintings made of paint, charcoal, flocking and metal-based drawing materials, which focuses on resonance and the conduction of sound. The exhibition posits the concept that objects have a fixed natural frequency at which they will resonate in sympathy with an external sound, to a potentially destructive level. The works identify objects that are good resonators (buildings, bones, cilia) and others that serve to damp sounds and echoes by absorbing them (furniture, clothing, soft tissue). The sooty underlying forms in these darkly layered paintings are like imaginary bone structures, organs, arteries and blood vessels illuminated with iodine for an x-ray image. The layered lines and shapes present a challenge to the eye to perform in a way similar to the way our ears can discern a chosen sound amidst a din. Constructing a mental picture of each tangled outline engages one’s short term visual memory. hush was exhibited at AWOL Gallery, Toronto, September 11-21, 2008 |