Event
Victoria May “And the refinement of their decline”Post an Event »
Don Soker Contemporary Art
August 27 - October 1, 2016Info
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http://www.donsokergallery.com/
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(415) 291-0966
Reception
August 27, 2016 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
May, "Refinement" installation detail
Don Soker Contemporary Art is pleased to present a new body of work by Victoria May entitled And the Refinement of Their Decline. May’s fourth show with the gallery will include a wall installation of printed translucent scrims, along with recent work made while in residence at the Lucid Arts Foundation. Through both humorously crude and painstakingly delicate handwork interventions, May layers screen-printed, stained, and stitched fabrics in a variety of formats. Sheer silk organza embellished with screen printing and embroidery is draped and stretched over visible plywood box frames. More rugged works use a found drop cloth as the basis of mixed media “paintings.” Swatches of fabric mimic painted marks, while tears in the canvas expose otherwise unseen strata. Other works include small panels of cast concrete and textile compositions. Incorporating raw and refined motifs and processes, these material explorations question a societal obsession with newness, appearances and order. The surprising juxtapositions of materials in May’s constructions—silk stitched with horsehair, a canvas with nested mattress springs, concrete embedded with glass shards— make allusions to both decadence and decay. Intent is blended with accident, mirroring the feats and foibles of human ambition.
May received her MFA from San Jose State University. She has received a Santa Cruz County Rydell Fellowship and been named a Silicon Valley Artist Laureate. She has had residencies at Jentel Arts in Wyoming, Kala and the Lucid Art Foundation. Her work has been published in By Hand, Fiber Arts, Surface Design Journal, reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle and has appeared on KQED and the BBC website.