“Unraveling” opened on March 19, 2022 at Gavlak, Los Angeles.
The exhibition is a rumination about the time we live in and how we got here. There are aspects of this show that are relatively personal and others that are much broader, but my hope is that even the more personal aspects will resonate with viewers.
The unraveling words act as anchors for the show, just as language provides a kind of anchor for contemporary culture. “In the beginning was the word…” The bible, the koran, the constitution. Twitter is seen as where the “real” debates are happening, with words, while the visual medium of instagram lacks the same level of debates. So when words are unraveling, it’s foundational, distressing, like the very pillars of our consciousness are being leveled, our bases bombed. Which came first, text or textile? One is inextricably linked with the other. When one falls apart, the other follows.
The words themselves were chosen because of their prevalence today and how their meanings transform, perhaps even hollowing out, with use/ overuse/ abuse.
Around, supporting, engaging with, and embellishing the words are crying meme characters and book covers. A large American flag in red combines text and a recognizable graphic, while a smaller flag provides punctuation.
