Holly Cahill: Light Switch Puzzle
@ D Gallery
623 S. Wabash, Room 717 D, Chicago IL
Opening Friday, September 6th, from 12PM - 1PM
On view through Sunday, October 6th
I can’t stop thinking about portals. Portals in architecture refer to the entrance of a building, while portals in science fiction function as devices that have the ability to transport a being to another time and location. My interest in portals comes from watching sci-fi, superhero movies, and thinking about fantasy worlds. I came across the concept of the fourth dimension through these popular culture references and began to research the work of mathematicians and scientists that have real applications for these theoretical dimensions. I am fascinated by the possibility of visualizing a dimension that may be all around us yet partially beyond our ability to comprehend it.
Light Switch Puzzle refers to a certain process of working and an actual puzzle; a thought experiment to determine which light bulb connects to which light switch. I think this puzzle, with it’s focus on connectivity, applies to my way of working where there is always a puzzle that presents itself in the process of making the drawing and the final step is not unlike turning on the lights. I work in reverse, first creating a field of watercolor and sprayed ink, masking off certain areas with tape and concealing the painting in darkness by applying graphite in others. The last marks put down with the resist become the first revealed back to me and usually the darkest illuminated marks, as the graphite is brushed back into the lines when the resist is removed. As the title of the show suggests this process keeps me partially in the dark as I never quite know how the final work will appear until it’s complete. The drawings are photographic in so much as they leave an impression of something no longer there.
–
Holly Cahill was born and raised in Kentucky. Her work has been shown at the Hyde Park Art Center, Governors State University, and the Walter Phillips Gallery in Banff Canada as a participant of the residency: A Paper A Drawing A Mountain. She received her BFA in painting from Syracuse University and an MFA from the University of Cincinnati. She has been an artist in residence at Ox-Bow, Harold Arts, The Banff Centre and 8550 Ohio. Holly currently lives and works in Chicago.
Official Website
More events on this date
Tags: D Gallery, Holly Cahill, South Loop
« previous event
next event »