Event details

Shashana Chittle, Lauren Davies

Mind (You) + Looking After

2/26/2010 - 3/26/2010 at Ampersand International Arts

Lauren Davies, Remains of the Day [detail] (2010) mixed media model, digital images, ash

Opening reception Friday, February 26th from 6:00pm to 8:30pm.

Shashana Chittle (Bay Area artist) methodically draws attention to the mysterious relationship between matter and consciousness. In her studio practice, sensory investigations are always paired with exercises in spiritual rituals, eventually incarnated in her mystical, delicate and sublime drawings, paintings and installations.

Lauren Davies is a San Francisco-based artist working in a range of mixed media projects that explore our often-troubled relationship with the natural world. Much of her work is based on the childhood experience of attending painting classes in a natural history museum. Davies' installations explore the ironic artifice found in many museum dioramas coupled with the folksy presentations of small town historical interpretive centers. Labor-intensive "do it yourself" replicas of wildlife and geological elements are carefully constructed from wildly inappropriate materials. Other recent projects have ranged from recreated scenes of destructive fires and debris, to the absurdity of correspondence course taxidermy studies and pedigreed dog breeding. Curatorial oversight of a vast collection of lint has been an ongoing project for over ten years. The unifying element found in these eclectic projects is an interest in exploring obscure subject matter and imagery, coupled with an obsessive use of sad sack materials and an underlying dark humor.

Happenstand