Description
“free play” was created to showcase how project spaces can facilitate an exploration of the creative process by allowing the gallery space to be used as a studio; the resulting output is then negotiated into a coherent gallery experience and exhibition.
Maria Hupfield creates handmade wearable art worn in her live performances. The viewer sees industrial gray felt and gets an optical hit of bright prismatic colored surveyor tape, satin ribbon, and repurposed metal cone-jingles worn by Native American women dancers today. Hupfield states: “My creations function as tools; jingles track body rhythms and modified industrial felt items are both shield and screen. These sculptures are carried on the body, recall everyday contemporary life, and reflect upon sight, and sound, often using the unexpected to shift experiences.”
Jason Lujan’s dynamic patterns and arrangements are mastered on muted surfaces such as newsprint or plywood, and found materials, where he applies spray-paint or pigments using silkscreen and masking. His patterns are a reference to language, and are part of a process to imbuing contemporary Native American culture with an international sense of place. He states, “I use conventional painting and sculpture methods with common and ready-made materials, often combining Eastern and Western visualities; I want people to view my work and consider multiple meanings regarding cultural assumptions.”