The common thread running through this very diverse selection of works, is that they each in their own way deconstruct and examine the often complex relationship between the whole and its constituent parts. This dynamic relationship is at the very root of our existence, in the sense that we are all systems of components; a sum total of several parts, in process on both biological and molecular levels. Human consciousness completes the process, allowing us to perceive wholeness. In this sense, the works, which reference or exist as component systems, allow the viewer to be an active participant in perceiving these totalities. In many ways, viewer perception completes the work. Although the works in this exhibit may not have been made strictly with this conceptual framework in mind, they lend themselves to being interpreted and experienced as such.

In her florescence works, Michelle Forsyth, engages in a transformative process where horrific images of war are broken down into systems of tiny flower shaped cutouts, which are mounted to the wall and are meant to be viewed from afar. Michelle Loughlin explores the spatial and sculptural aspects of yarn as a medium, weaving elaborate networks of knots into works that blur boundaries and interact with the viewer’s perception. Ephemera plays a primary role in Anne Q. Mckeown’s recent paintings on paper, where patterns from camouflage are reassembled into other systems as a commentary on our chaotic existence.

Other works in the exhibit explore the element of movement as a byproduct of these component systems. In Jeffrey Thompson’s Ping Pong, electricity hums through a speaker cone, which in turn causes two ping pong balls to vibrate percussively. In Ned Mansfield’s most recent kinetic sculpture, he literally breaks down and poetically reassembles a kitschy ceramic dog, using an elaborate mechanical system that will be activated when people open and close the gallery door. In Sharpy’s ( Cecilia Biagini and Dahlia Fischbein) latest multimedia exploration, the elements of earth, air, water and fire are depicted with multiplying moving systems of inanimate objects. In the trees outside of the gallery, Damian Catera’s latest installation will weave a transformative soundscape from a collection of ten second snippets of sound sampled from the gallery’s exterior. Sound will also be a primary element in Todd Rosenbaum’s latest kinetic sculpture.