Repetition: The Marks Left Behind
Curated by Claire Kiester
January 26th - February 16th
Goodyear Arts
301 Camp Road, #200
Charlotte, NC 28206
Repetition: The Marks Left Behind explores the prevalence of patterns within our society and their impact on our environment and personal identities. The exhibition highlights work by North Carolina artists who capture remnants of these systems and investigate through repetition.
Learn more about the pieces and artists below ︎︎︎
Deep Sea Astronomy 01
2022
Pencil crayon, water color, and tracing paper on paper. Hand-carved frame with epoxy clay and acrylic paint.
33.5” x 27.5"
$600
Kathryn Desplanque's artwork builds universes on the edge of this one's expansion where the laws of nature are wobbly and unrecognizable. Drawing on Platonic forms, deep sea animals, fungi, and theoretical physics she imagines places that border on the inconceivable and unknowable, macroscopic or microscopic, the alien. In response to her experiences of racial liminality, national status liminality, misogyny, queerness, domestic abuse, and childhood assault, her exotopias (alien landscapes) reify the fruits of her disembodied imagination, emancipated from a world where her body and identities are contested and oppressed without her consent and in violation of her self-sovereignty. Lying somewhere between delight and disorientation and rife with subtle internal contradictions, Kathryn’s process replicates the experience of liminality and diaspora, providing an escape into a hand-made alien universe devoid of markers of humanity.
Binging Nostalgia
2023
Polaroid
8” x 10”
NFS
A treat for just existing
2023
Polaroid
8” x 10”
NFS
I'll cook tomorrow
2023
Polaroid
8” x 10”
NFS
Can't stop the cravings
2023
Polaroid
8” x 10”
NFS
“You can’t eat your feelings” is a series of polaroid photographs of my struggle with binge eating disorder. Using polaroids was a way to instantly document binges as they happened. Each photo has a note of reflection. Why did I binge at that moment? What was I feeling? What was I avoiding?
The Joyful Mysteries
2023
Yarn and Mixed Media on Burlap
134” x 54”
NFS
In The Joyful Mysteries, Molly English creates hybrid forms to explore the murky lines between womxn, animals, and the land on which they live. It focuses on the seemingly inevitable cycle of reproduction and consumption in which these subjugated beings are ensnared. Drawing from a cacophony of sources, such as medieval bestiaries, 20th century interior design, and her family's history of butchery, The Joyful Mysteries elaborates on English's own understanding of contemporary femininity through a more-than-human lens.
Diptych in Lapis
2023
marble, porcelain powder, dry pigment, eco resin, hardware
17" x 17" x 3" x 2
$3,500
My work focuses on the ubiquitous nature of non-biodegradable plastics. Anthropogenic materials such as containers, bins, disposable packaging etc. are embedding themselves into our geologic record as a layer of plastic sediment and hybrid plastiglomerate rock. I envision my work as processed-based art which further imagines a future geologic narrative that includes fossilized plastic waste.
My studio practice involves salvaging recycled and discarded plastic containers, and reviving them as ready-made moulds that I use to produce multiple casts that present themselves as relief sculptures. The casts replicate the subtle industrial contours of the plastic waste they are derived from, and are punctuated by instances of erosion.
My pigment selection reflects natural mineral colours found in earthly materials such as coal, marble, sulphur and lapis lazuli. Both pigment and embedded sites of erosion allude to the earth’s mineral layers and its geologic record.
For me, the casts propose a future scenario about our environment and the kind of trace-evidence that will remain after a prolonged period of plastic waste. It is conceivable that our disposable, non-biodegradable containers will fossilize over time creating strange geological forms in the shapes of industrial mass-production.
Diptych in Lapis was cast from plastic garbage that I found in my neighbour's recycling bin - I believe the form might be the base of a plastic toy that was mass-produced, used for a time, and then discarded. Its geometry is reminiscent of many things such as medieval stain glass windows, Celtic crosses, Islamic tiles, or even computer screen icons.
Soft Paths
2024
Gouache and ink on handmade paper
12” x 9”
$250
Grids make up a large part of the work I create. The process of painting repetitive lines is something I find therapeutic while contemplating larger metaphors for flawed structures. Outlining the painted grid highlights the areas of imperfection.
Warped and weft
2023
Gouache and ink on handmade paper
12” x 9”
$250
As a weaver, I like to make connections between fiber arts and my works on paper. In this piece, I was interested in putting care and attention into the consistency of the woven pattern, while having the lines themselves scattered and untidy, balancing a state of order and fragility.
Spatial Awareness
2023
Gouache and ink on handmade paper
12” x 8.5”
$275
This work uses negative space as a tool to create linear forms, allowing the viewer to use perspective to shift the way they interpret negative space, emphasizing the strength of our biases.
Pulpy Loops
2023
Paracord and recycled wood frame.
10” x 13”
$350
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
2024
Paracord and recycled wood frame.
11” x 11”
$300
Crispy No. 2
2023
Paracord, tarp, yarn, recycled wood frame.
11” x 13”
$415
The Rhythm of the Flowers
2024
Paracord and recycled wood frame.
16” x 13”
$520
Did You Make That All By Yourself?
2021
Soft pastel on paper mounted to aluminum panel
72" x 84"
$5,000
Did you make that all by yourself?
It's a question that we ask kids often: Did you do that all by yourself?
But it's a loaded question – we know the answer as we're asking.
This pastel drawing uses visual metaphor to explore the coming-of-age realization that we don't get to choose who genders us and how we are gendered by other people. We don't get to choose when we are misgendered, or treated differently because of our gender.
This representation of an unsavory breakfast is symbolic of the combination of positive, negative, and even questionable life experiences which have come to shape my own perception of the idea of gender as it pertains to my own identity.
Inside of the vintage blue glass bowl, scrambled cereal pieces ask us,
"boy or girl"
As if we have the answer.
Waves
2021
Acrylic and collage on linen
60” x 80”
$15,000
Inspired by Hokusai's "Great Wave" and samurai artifacts, this work addresses the current climate crisis through the lens of familial history.
At the Pace of Space
2023
Oil on canvas
12” x 12”
$1,500
Honoring how we have always looked to the heavens in search of patterns to help us better understand the world and our place in it. Also reflecting on the gravity that astrology holds and it's importance in helping with connectivity in queer culture.
Referenced a photo I took of @mikaiyel ‘s shoes back in 2021
The Witness
2024
Oil on canvas
16” x 12"
$1,500
Reflecting on what it is like to bear witness to catastrophic levels of violence and genocide occurring around the world, right at our fingertips. By bearing witness, we honor the truths of what is happening and can begin to sow seeds for a new world, even if we may not live to see it. Our collective memory is a tool that can be used to shoulder the weight for those who lost their lives due to the greed and failure of world leaders.
Un Día para Celebrar
2022
Acrylic paint on Canvas
48” x 48”
$5,600
Entitled "Un Día para Celebrar" or "A Day to Celebrate," this painting holds a cherished place in my heart. Rooted in memories of festive family gatherings from my childhood, it embodies the spirit of collective joy. The portrayal of two men carrying a pig walking towards the viewer extends an invitation, calling viewers to join the celebration. The vibrant colors convey the eager anticipation and exhilaration of these family full moments. Beyond personal nostalgia, the artwork encapsulates a commitment to preserving and passing down traditional customs with love. I really hope that these lasting traditions keep touching and inspiring generations to come.
Heart Claw
2021
ceramic, diaper pins, balloons, doorknob, acrylic, resin, broom bristles, sewing pins, birthday candles, erasers, shower cap, buttons, copper scrubbies, straws, hair curlers, clothespins, cosmetic wedge, silk camisole, wire, fake pearls, spoon, dish gloves, nail polish, sand, shoelace, seashell, eyeshadow applicators, rubber bands, pacifiers
23" x 25" x 17"
$2,560
My studio-based practice is very process-driven. When making a sculpture I have only a general sense of where I’d like to end up and then as I create, I am guided by my own body sensations and feelings on what it is like to live in my white, she/they body in this world. Through the work I explore how my lived experiences connect or dis-connect with the encoded and embedded messages about identity that I find in the objects, symbols and visual language that surrounds me.
When creating "Heart Claw," I began the process by taking a previously made wall sculpture and pivoting it as the base for the new sculpture. The ceramic centerpiece of "Heart Claw" is from a series of wall sculptures that I made in 2018 that are flowers, caves, crevices all in one. They also reference biologically female anatomy, as well as the psychological states of receiving, of retreating, of waiting. Amidst the cluster of surrounding objects and forms, these sculptures turn traditionally feminized and often disregarded or misunderstood states into ones of poise and power.
For "Heart Claw" I took that ceramic form and sculptural vocabulary and pivoted it to the horizontal plane. I was thinking a lot at the time about how many of the body sensations that I was experiencing felt like a cage or claw around my heart. Often my sculptures have spindly, precarious legs pointing down, and for "Heart Claw" I reoriented these to become spindly, hairy, claw-like arms reaching up. The broom bristles used as hairs were ways for me to complicate feminine visual language while also referencing my own hairy body and legs.
An Iceberg Between the Shoulder Blades (Burdens)
2015
nylon stockings, cocktail straws, rice, pillow stuffing, lace camisole, plaster, clay
12" x 14" x 14"
$2,560
"An Iceberg Between the Shoulder Blades (Burdens)" is from Stein's 2015 solo exhibition "Puzzling Margins," which was a playful interrogation of feminine stereotypes that stretched gendered boundaries to their breaking points, making way for a new conversation about female survival in the US today.
This sculpture is a part of a series where Stein dissects and reconstructs household accoutrements into scientific and sexualized forms, transforming implements of domesticity into startling otherworldly creatures that refer to plant and sea life, geological activity, reproductive organs, and genitalia. Alienizing these associations through repetitious processes that reference “women’s work,” she recasts mundane objects found on the shelves of America’s chain retail stores, such as bath mats, imperishable food items, and sponges, into fused anomalies that collapse the space between comfort and threat. These sculptures wrangle with the anxiety of anatomical bounds while simultaneously stripping the body of its margins and its gender conformities, prodding the viewer with distorted effigies that are both inviting and repulsive.
The title "An Iceberg Between the Shoulder Blades (Burdens)" references Mary Oliver’s poem, "When Death Comes," writing that gives rise to one’s anxiety of a life unrealized. The anatomy of "(Burdens)" is a cast of Stein's neck resting atop fickle limbs, but this work is soft, billowing, and warm. Its figure envelopes a cluster of rice-filled pouches made from nylon stockings and leans subtly forward in a sheltering stance, simulating the way a mother might gently guide the shuffling feet of her brood.
(Text credit: Laura Ritchie)
We keep our own grace
2023
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
48” x 60”
$1,800
The Running
2024
Acrylic, spray paint, oil pastel on canvas
36" x 48"
$1,100