GROUP EXHIBITION | Complexity/Simplicity

Foster/White Gallery is pleased to present the work of 5 sculptors who are new to the gallery. The artists work in an intriguing range of techniques and materials, from glazed medite and sintra to stone carvings with needle felted wool, and from stitched, salvaged neoprene to slip cast and assembled ceramics. This collection of works runs the gamut from the most simple to the most complex combinations of shape, color and form.

Sara Coffin’s glazed medite and sintra wall mounted sculptures, which the artist refers to as sconces, repeat a simple rectangular form within a larger rectangular form. Utilizing a unique glazing technique to create a spectacle of candy like colors, these pieces seem to be super-naturally glowing with light emanating out of every edge and angled join.

Kyle Johns’ builds complex, multi-faceted molds to create slip cast ceramics which fall between vessel and sculpture. These works take on the appearance of multiple components stacked or assembled, one on top of the next, like a colorful and far more inventive version of Jenga, or a teetering tower with shapes and contours that seem to be moving in every possible direction all at once.

Gabriel John Poucher takes a building block approach to his highly complex ceramic structures which he has described as maximal and cacophonous. Inspired by industrial aesthetics and childhood construction toys, the artist embraces the unpredictability of his chosen material. As the clay reacts to the conditions of firing, stability deteriorates and these pieces contort and collapse resulting in somewhat chaotic forms that veer in and out of accidental harmony.

 Stephanie Robison’s stone and felted wool sculptures bring these seemingly opposing materials into unexpected conversation with each other. Simple organic shapes which at times look like strange creatures, with rounded extremities protruding outward, neatly interact with themselves. They are odd and awkward but simple and delightful, and seem to have been dreamed up with a light-hearted sense of humor and freedom.

 Henry Jock Walker is an Australian artist whose practice is intertwined with his surfing lifestyle and surf culture. His instincts for breaking up space with line and shapes are somewhat classical but the use of neoprene, which he sources from used wet suits, brings a satisfying texture to the surface. The stitched seams create soft grooves which behave as graphic elements between brightly colored patches of fabric. Often playful and with unexpected titles, the assorted mix of salvaged neoprene offers varying levels of reflection and light absorption which allows the work to take on a more serious tone at times.