The human mind has the remarkable ability to perceive convincing patterns in puddles of chaos and banality. We are especially adept at making visual associations between diverse subjects. As children we become lost in the wonderment of clouds that transform into animals and the moon that wears the face of a man. In the collages of Sue Hettmansperger, disparate materials collide, generating new forms with traces of familiarity. Pieces of dried leaves and plastic pop rings are identifiable, carrying the weight of their own history. At the same time photographs and subtle marks of paint make these objects more difficult to place. The work channels both compatibility of forms and a growing tension between boundaries...
WATER AND STONE
In the book, What Painting Is, James Elkins defines painting as a combination of two ingredients: water (medium) and stone (pigment). The action of painting is a process of negotiating the two. Water and Stone presents two artists whose work necessitates material functions...
NEW DAY
Consider the experience of an archaeologist: the sensation of being immersed in earthen substances and the ceaseless curiosity that keeps one searching. Imagine clay and grime under your fingernails, the damp smell of a cavernous hole in the ground, and the inexplicable wonder upon discovering a hidden mystery preserved in the earth. In addition to the associations we have with the physical acts of archaeological digging, think of what it means to be doing archaeology: to investigate and search for evidence of the past in order to learn more about ourselves in the present...