Moment is an exhibition of new work by Kiki Smith in collaboration with Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE). The series of monotypes and DVD animation included in this exhibition continue Smith’s earlier explorations of the interrelationship between humans and nature.

This particular body of work focuses on the portrait of a young woman in a thicket. Smith worked closely with ULAE to achieve her vision of creating a series in which each piece is unique but interrelated. “I wanted to make a series of monotypes, handmade and hand-colored, but I also wanted them to need one another,” says Smith. After ULAE printed her hand drawn portrait of the woman, Smith airbrushed pink and blue watercolor and then stenciled branch patterns and pressed leaves covered in gouache onto the printed sheet. Emphasizing the pieces’ interdependency, Smith and ULAE then created a DVD animation of all the images in the series, running in an infinitely random sequence, mimicking the random way that trees and leaves blow in the wind. Although she had worked in video before, this is the first time that Smith has created an animated short using a series of prints as the stills.

The result is a group of hauntingly beautiful images of a woman’s face in a changing wooded environment that can be read almost like independent stills from a film, a concept reinforced by the animated DVD that accompanies each work. The series includes twenty unique hand-colored monotypes.

There will be a book signing and poetry reading by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge in celebration of their new collaborative book Concordance, published by Kelsey Street Press following the opening reception.