May 14 - June 26, 2022
Reception Saturday, May 14th, 5-7PM at studio e in Georgetown, Seattle
James Harris Gallery in coordination with studio e is pleased to present a group exhibition titled “Shadow Time.” This cross-generational show features the work of three women who use personal histories as the thematic ideas for their work. “Shadow Time” explores aspects of memory and how it remains buried in the unconscious until a catalyst brings it to the fore. The three artists have deep connections to the Northwest, and have all worked individually with admiration for one another’s work. They share some commonality, but mostly each artist’s oeuvre is distinct. This show is the first time multiple works by Claire Cowie, Fay Jones and Mary Ann Peters will be on view together at studio e gallery.
For Fay Jones, painting is an intimate act and an expression of her relationship to the world. Jones uses figures that are described with line and color rather than modulation. Her figures are staged on flat planes of color to create a stylized illusion of depth. This signature style creates a tension between the immediacy of the simplicity of Jones’ figures and the inscrutability of what she is depicting. Also on view will be a unique sculpture of seven hand-blown cocktail glasses tied together by a pink ribbon. The impetus of this work, created during a residency at Pilchuck Glass School, was the impact from growing up in a family of heavy drinkers. Alluding to family, the glasses appear similar but they are each unique. The sculpture’s concatenation suggests that; if one teeters over, the others become unstable.
Mary Ann Peters takes personal histories linked to Middle Eastern migration as the driving force for her multimedia work. As a second-generation Arab American, Peters’ vantage point is both personal and distanced. Through research, Peters locates stories of displacement that have been buried by conflict or the passage of time. The stories are not her own but provide a foundation for an intuitive artistic response. By shifting between referential imagery and abstraction in her painting and drawing, her works engage in an intimate conversation about identity and place; and reflect on cultural nostalgia and the complexity of actual history. Also included in the show is a tapestry with an image inspired by a political cartoon that referenced French occupation of North Africa. By altering the image’s reference to France, the narrative now shifts to the universal practice of the sublimation of one culture by another.
“Shadow Time” explores our collective and individual responses to memory and history. The three artists create idiosyncratic works that trigger a thought-provoking encounter with the way we see and interpret the world one that is powerful, comforting and disconcerting. Through their personal visions, Cowie, Jones, and Peters uniquely describe the physical and psychological spaces in which we reside. Their works distill both the emotional joy and trauma of the human psyche.
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