Summer 2023 Exhibitions
Sea of Vapors
An immersive installation by Emily Counts
June 2- December 31, 2023 in the True Space
Seattle based ceramicist Emily Counts creates multi-disciplinary sculptures that engage traditional craft techniques to explore identity, memory, mortality, and our relationship to nature.
In this immersive installation, Sea of Vapors, Counts has masterfully staged a collective of female figures who are traveling by boat through a dream space to meet their venerated Queen. Each voyager’s physical features are playfully reimagined with abstract shapes, vibrant colors, and rich textures to evoke multi-layered portraits of the self, dear friends, and matrilineal heritage.
Scale, form, and color are experimentally emphasized in this phantastic environment. Ceramic facial structures are graphically sculpted and rearranged in surreal compositions. Nostalgic features of woven sweaters and expressive accessories radiate with colorful illumination to evoke a sense of the past with the futuristic.
Surrounding the sea-faring travelers are wilting flowers and rotting fruit. These sacred possessions were gathered for the extended journey and their presence conveys the magic of growth and decomposition. The organic materials in-turn reflect the beauty and strength in the transformation of aging human bodies. To Counts, this exhibition is deeply personal and rooted in a habit of navigating through memories. As a multi-sensory experience, the installation aims to be a platform for open-ended narratives for a viewer to consider their own relational perception of time—past, present and the future.
Soft Touch
An immersive, tactile survey of soft sculpture and textile art
February 2- August 31, 2023 in The Malone Gallery
Soft Touch is an immersive, tactile survey of soft sculpture and textile art featuring over 40 artists from the Pacific Northwest and far beyond. Audiences are invited to sit, stand, or recline in a gallery cushioned by a patchwork of futon mattresses, shag carpets, and curtaining as they explore work that interweaves themes of identity, humanity, and natural ecosystems.
Featured Artists:
Janelle Abbott, Andrea Alonge, Lou Barcott, Marin Burnett, Colleen Louise Barry, Colby Bishop, Debi Boyette, Colleen RJC Bratton, Stella Bronson, Shiloh Davies, Sam Dienst, Anna Dong, Esra Ebru, Beth Frey, Lydia Gerard, Jo Hamilton, Ant Hamlyn, Jeffrey Heiman, Saina Heshmati, Jaymes Junio, Melissa Kagerer, Yewon Kwon, Michael McKinney, Jennifer McNeely, Mila Textiles, Mark Mitchell, Olivia Montoya, Izzy Nestegard, Leah Nguyen, Tuan Nguyen, Amanda James Parker, Megan Prince, Psych-Pop, Britt Rodriguez, Vincent Schwenk, Stay Tuft, Dain Susman, Frankie Toan, Nina Vichayapai, and Waxy Fruits.
“World’s Smallest Bouncy Castle (Record Pending…)” by Ant Hamlyn
Video Installation Stairwell: Arborescent by Sabin Timalsena
Arborescent is an interactive experience that allows the participant to control an algorithmic botany simulation with hand gestures. The simulation consists of various digital species of plants, each one modeled as a collection of hundreds of finely tuned numeric parameters. These numbers guide the growth of the plant by modeling and controlling the influence of various natural tendencies, while also allowing the participant to control aspects of the simulation. By combining gestural input, pre-defined rules, and controlled numerical chaos, the algorithm can generate infinite unique variations of digital plants. Arborescent is a collaboration between the artist and the visitors who interact with it.
About Sabin Timalsena
“I am a computational artist, I create art by writing in the language of computers. With a deep understanding of the underlying algorithms and computational techniques, I model systems that shape pixels and polygons while orchestrating complex simulations. I see technology as a conduit for personal creative expression, and not merely a tool for automation and optimization. Through blind experimentation in uncharted territory, I strive to push the boundaries of what's possible in computational art.”
Toilet #2: Reflecting Boundaries by Mariana Gutheim
Mariana Gutheim is an interdisciplinary architect, designer, and artist whose work focuses on creating site-specific light installations using architectural digital tools. Her work is a direct response to the physical space, challenging perceptions of the built environment and the design process.
In her piece Reflecting Boundaries, Gutheim explores the influence of technology on architecture and creative processes within a transitory space—specifically, MoM's Toilet #2. Through the integration of live tracing technologies, she blurs the boundaries between the virtual and the real, prompting viewers to question the limits of space and its evolving utilization influenced by the prevalence of selfie culture. This immersive experience merges design processes, physical elements, and social media, forging an interplay between reality and technology. The 4.31-minute video suspends viewers in an entrancing state, caught between the realms of design and reality, where contemplation and introspection intertwine.
Toilet #3: Enslimed by Lilia Deering
“Enslimed" is an immersive art installation designed by Lilia Deering, a Seattle-based artist with a background in large-scale installation, sculpture, and performance art. In this piece, Deering draws upon her experience creating unexpected immersive environments to subvert the sterile aesthetics of the modern restroom space. She invites visitors to embrace the unusual and explore their own reactions to the unfamiliar. Upon entering Toilet no.3, blacklight and punchy slime green surround you in an uncanny and surreal atmosphere dripping with toxic luminescence. Sounds and textures teasingly evoke bodily fluids in a way that is both provocative and playful, exploring the interaction of unease and fascination. Amidst the maximalist textural landscape, the restroom remains fully functional, bringing to mind questions around the value of privileging of utilitarianism in design. As an artist, Deering explores the ways in which art can use delight and irreverence to challenge and disrupt. She encourages viewers to engage with the unexpected and, sometimes, revel in discomfort. With "Enslimed," she invites us to embrace the tactile and the sensory, to engage with our own bodies' viscerality, and to see the mundane world around us in a new, ultraviolet light.
About Lilia Deering
Lilia Deering (she/her) is a queer Seattle-born artist specializing in designing and building vibrant sculptures and installations. She holds a BFA in Dance and Choreography from California Institute of the Arts and a certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Washington. While pursuing her BFA, Deering leveraged her experience as a choreographer to explore the impact of breaking the fourth wall to bring the audience into the art. She continues to blur these boundaries with highly textured and immersive pieces which invite interaction and multi-sensory viewing experiences. By stimulating the senses she hopes to spark curiosity and ignite imaginations. Deering creates work for a variety of contexts including stage productions, films, galleries, and events. Her large-scale installation work has been exhibited in Italy as a part of the Nature Art and Habitat Residency and in Los Angeles at the Silent Play Experiment. In Seattle, Deering has exhibited at Arts at King St. Station, Base Camp Studios, Vermillion, and the Museum of Museums.
Instagram: @welcomegnome
Mudede Theater: Fondly Yours, Curated by Rob Patrick
A collection of valedictions. a handful of balloon ribbons. eight short films about love and loneliness: soft joys and snack-sized heartbreak.
1) Rotary dir. Mary Kobayashi (1:05)
2) Ok, Call Me Back dir. Emily Ann Hoffman (4:57)
3) 12 Months First Love dir. Ruby Mullen (9:29)
4) bigbang dir. Karissa Hahn (3:00)
5) double whammy! dir. Tristen Ives (4:19)
6) Aperture/Corridor dir. Karissa Hahn (3:00)
7) Leather Communion dir. Maren Moreno (3:05)
8) Hunge dir. Clare Austen-Smith (5:28)
About The Curator:
Rob patrick [he/him] is the director of programming at the capitol theater in olympia, washington. in 2018, moviemaker magazine named him a "programmer to watch" (a title that has likely been rescinded). he is the julie benko of his friend group.
instagram: @busiestphilipps
website: robertdanielpatrick.com
Emergence Room: Imaginary Lands by Westside Students
Curated by Colleen Louise Barry and Gina Griffiths
Imaginary Lands showcases the artwork of our entire art program and features work from artists in Kindergarten through 8th grade. Our lower school artists decided on our show's theme and title because they believe that art is a place to dream big about the kind of world we can all share.
About Westside School:
Westside School is a non-profit independent K-8 school in West Seattle. Westside’s Visual Arts Program focuses on building confidence and community through a project-based learning approach. Students are encouraged to express themselves in a variety of media, relying on their imaginations, resourcefulness, and creative problem solving skills. The art studio is a place for students to celebrate diversity by embracing difference and valuing unique identities. Contemporary artists are showcased and studied through the lens of an essential question, for example, how do artists make meaningful change? Rather than try to replicate famous art works or styles, young artists instead find inspiration and an opportunity to explore different mediums while grappling with these questions.
About the Curators:
Colleen Louise Barry is a local artist and writer and is the middle school art teacher; Gina Griffiths is the lower school art teacher.
Supperfield Museum of Contemporary Art (SMCA)
The Flerps Galleries:
“CORAJE” paintings by Caspar Thrillson
Caspar studied art at El Circulo de Belles Artes (Madrid) and has a double career as a chef and restaurateur. Thrillson works in monumental artworks and murals that convey his interests in aviation, climate crisis and integrated societies.
“401Y2K” installation by Shonny Provo
Shonny Povo is a reformed ascetic monk who haunts the beaches and rivers of east Florida, feeding seagulls and panthers when he is not surfing or canoeing the waterways. This installation is his debut at SMCA.
“Experiments in Candied Horror” paintings by Christopher Sweetbeard
Christopher Sweetbeard studied art, confections, and science at a secret school, deep in the Carpathian forest. After his schooling he began his experiment in genetics, chemistry and sugar. This led to a slide into strange creations of which he kept a record of in detailed illustrations. He is considered a bit of a mad scientist with his strange creations of sugary monsters and weaponry. These paintings of his are a small record of some of his more bizarre and successful creations.
“A Pattern and Altar for Joy and Delight” installation by Rufina Nechama Futureself
A healer and artist, Rufina brings her community together with ritual. Creating patterns that sing comfort, ease, and loving attention into the old wounds—and dream the path forward with living energy.
Rufina will invite you to participate in finding the patterns, building an altar to support their work, and share a cup of tea infused from dandelion flowers. She lives with two cats in a small cottage surrounded by flowers, herbs, and native plants. She has 4 of every dish, just enough to offer simple meals at her round kitchen table to the folks who frequently drop by to visit. Her home is simple and full of light with a couch for napping, a chair for reading—just enough seating for cozy cups of tea with her visitors.
The Atrium:
“Undecidable Propositions” An installation by K Haas
K Haas first gained notoriety in the underground street art scene in Berlin in the late 90s. From guerilla TV wall installations in alleys, to city-wide radical advertising alterations, to DIY Tesla coil performances in parking lots, K Haas is a relentless provocateur working in the liminal crevices of society. K Haas’s latest video installation, “Undecidable Propositions,” immerses viewers in uncanny moods that reference paradoxes in mathematical logic.
Box Galleries:
“Every Beautiful Thing”New Work by Uncle Ruby
At the age of 40, Rubina & Uncle Ruby; Herum left her city life behind and moved to Iowa, purchasing a slightly run-down mansion that she filled with paper replicas of every beautiful thing that she could remember or imagine. She created an encyclopedic collection of 2-dimensional specimens, dioramas, and non-religious shrines that fill every wall, nook and cranny in the sprawling home, which she sees as both living space and museum. She regards all of her work as one magical installation - the objects on loan to the SMCA are a tiny piece of the complete assemblage.
Ummagumma: BANGER, curated by Richard Cheim
MoM's sound art project Ummagumma returns with with a poetry collection title BANGER, curated by Richard Chiem.
Featuring four of Seattle's most prominent poets, the ones you stay for when you enter the room, the ones that follow you around like a ghost long after the reading, the ones w/ powers that work well beyond the page. They are Rae Armantrout, Quenton Baker, Kamari Bright, and E.J. Koh. These poems break the glass, these poets break convention. The shards become you. Enter the sky, dreamy and airborne, you will never touch the ground again.
Richard Chiem:
Richard Chiem is the author of You Private Person (Sorry House Classics, 2017), and the novel, King of Joy (Soft Skull, 2019), which was long listed for the 2020 PEN Open Book Award. He was named a 2019 Writer to Watch by the Los Angeles Times. He has taught at Hugo House and Catapult. He lives in Seattle.
Rae Armantrout:
Writing for the Poetry Foundation, David Woo says that Rae Armantrout’s recent book Finalists (Wesleyan 2022) “emanates the radiant astonishment of living thought.” Her 2018 book, Wobble, was a finalist for the National Book Award that year. Her other books with Wesleyan include Partly: New and Selected Poems, Just Saying, Money Shot and Versed. In 2010 Versed won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and The National Book Critics Circle Award. Retired from UC San Diego where she was professor of poetry and poetics. She is the current judge of the Yale Younger Poets Prize.
Poems:
“Scumble”
“Notice”
“Care”
“Surprise, Surprise”
“Lions”
“Enchanted Forest”
“Mouth”
Quenton Baker:
Quenton Baker is a poet, educator, and Cave Canem fellow. Their current focus is black interiority and the afterlife of slavery. Their work has appeared in The Offing, Jubilat, Vinyl, The Rumpus and elsewhere. They are a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and the recipient of the 2018 Arts Innovator Award from Artist Trust. They were a 2019 Robert Rauschenberg Artist in Residence and a 2021 NEA Fellow. They are the author of we pilot the blood (The 3rd Thing, 2021) and ballast (Haymarket, 2023).
Poems:
"Love Longs for an Object"
"My Hands Are Full of Gold and Gold is Full of Blood"
"It is Dark Where I am From"
Kamari Bright:
With the goal of creating something that starts the process of healing for herself and others, Kamari Bright is a poet/videopoet/multimedia creative heavily inspired by her personal growth and observations. The award-winning artist transcends the bounds of imagery and language, fortifying one with the other to create work more closely resemblant to the multi-sensory experiences of life. Her videopoems have been internationally received and lauded at Seattle Black Film Festival, the Film and Video Poetry Symposium, Tacoma Film Festival, and many others festivals; while their poetry has been featured in “NILVX: A Book of Magic,” “2018 Jack Straw Writers Anthology,” “Moss,” Bellwether Arts Week, and other avenues. The 2022 Artist Trust Fellowship Award for Black Artists recipient is currently working on a manuscript connecting the influence of Christian folklore on present-day misogyny, and a videopoem extrapolating collective trauma's connection to land stewardship.
Poems:
“Impasse”
“Eden”
EJ Koh:
E. J. Koh is the author of The Magical Language of Others, a Washington State Book Award Winner, Pacific Northwest Book Award Winner, Association of Asian American Studies Book Award Winner, and PEN Open Book Award Longlist. Koh is also the author of the poetry collection A Lesser Love, a Pleiades Editors Prize for Poetry Winner. Koh’s work has appeared in AGNI, The Atlantic, Boston Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poetry, and elsewhere. Koh earned her MFA at Columbia University, her PhD at University of Washington, and has received the National Endowment of the Arts and MacDowell fellowships. Her debut novel The Liberators is forthcoming fall 2023. She lives in Seattle, Washington.
Poems:
“Showtime”
“Father in His Old Age”
The Magical Language of Others, an excerpt.