Exploring Reality
an exhibition curated by Shane McAdams and Scott Malbaurn

Exhibition Overview

The artists in the exhibition Exploring Reality, at the Schneider Museum of Art, were selected based on their oblique, metaphorical relation to that eponymous notion; that one of art’s obligations is to take on aspects of reality from metaphorical angles, and to do so through unique, nonobjective, irreverent, eccentric perspectives that the proprieties and sanctions of other disciplinary objectives can’t oblige. The work that is in Exploring Reality is formally diverse, but linked by its abiding interest in that basic premise. Malia Jensen’s sculptures are viscerally constructed parables that she hopes will be deconstructed intellectually by the viewer. Her piece, Sock Fight, presents the capacity of two individuals or nations fighting over the impractical or foolish notions. Ellen Lesperance’s coded works on paper capture the spirit of political activism and individual acts of resistance. In her raucous and eclectic prints, Charlene Liu seeks an ambivalent visual pastiche that reflects her personal experience of acculturation. Tia Factor’s paintings are similarly concerned with how rich personal histories translate into visual objects, however her magically naturalist paintings take root in the accounts of utopian settlers who have in one way or another abandoned traditional society. Ryan Pierce considers the hypothetical over the historical implications of humans colliding with nature in his apocalyptical paintings of mutant flora and fauna. The interaction of culture and nature also inspire the work of Laura Vandenburgh, however she pans out on the idea, bringing to it a more sociological and cartographical sensibility. Her installations and delicate works on paper suggest everything from cellular networks, emergent systems, social mapping exercises, and topographical maps. Laurel Bustamante’s work zooms back into nature in her delicate gouache paintings inspired by her direct and personal relationship to the land. Her exquisite compositions begin from chance events with fluid media, which she reacts to and brings to life. Robin Strangfeld’s ceramics consider how the parameters of a given context shape our understanding of difference and value. And my own work, an oak tree sliced into segments finished with streaks of ballpoint pen ink and resin, question whether processes, materials, or representations are the most reliable measure of what is real.

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