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Julia Haft-Candell and Benjamin DeMott
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Julia Haft-Candell and Benjamin DeMott
April 19 – May 17, 2012
The Jane Hartsook Gallery is pleased to present the work of Julia Haft-Candell and Benjamin DeMott. Their installation gives rise to an alternative way of seeing ourselves, materials and the space between these components. This exhibition relates to the figurative – psychological, physiological, metaphorical and active and passive notions of impermanence, mapping, reclaiming, and collecting. Beyond their conceptual affinities their work reflects a unique, almost contrarian, handling of the material prevalent in today’s expanded field.
“Fragile, thread-thin ceramic extrusions are tenuously bound to one another by glues and household fix-it material. The painfully delicate fired ceramic line, zigs and zags splintering into a complex network where the familiarity of scale shifts from that of the watchmaker to the astronomer. Interspersed within these precarious structures are decorative debris…Highlighting impermanence, these assemblages are contingent and situational, potentially configured for only a short duration. A playful longing for solidity amidst operatives of change inspires this dialogue with material. My intent is to afford the audience a confrontation, a friction between wonder, awe and the trepidation felt by the prospects of uncertainty. I aim to explore what uncertainty has to offer.” –Benjamin DeMott
“Through my work I am echoing the characteristics of a complex system. Seemingly disparate events align to form a whole. Each element of the system is unique, yet needs the others in order to function, as small changes in a part can drastically alter the integrity of the entire structure. By creating a vocabulary comprised of cells that are repetitively constructed, added, subtracted and rearranged, I can speak of the phenomenal interconnectedness of all things… Ultimately the goal is to form a composition that most effectively speaks to the ambiguity of perception and the complexity of being.”—Julia Haft-Candell
Julia Haft-Candell was born in Oakland, California. She received an MFA from California State University Long Beach in 2010. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Benjamin DeMott was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He earned an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a BFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University.
