Solo Show of Block Prints at Kafka’s

Curator Michael Schwartz invited me to have a solo show at Kafka’s. I worked most of the summer preparing a collection of block prints and a large wallpaper installation.

The show will be up until November 14th. Kafka’s Coffee And Tea is at 2525 Main Street in Vancouver, between Broadway and 10th.

*Price list of available pieces as of Dec. 10/16 (PDF link).

I’ll post more about how I made them, but for now here’s a glimpse of most of the pieces in the show.

Left: Sutra of Past Embarrassments

Right: The Unconscious Ease of Ease

Click through for more photos of the work and some shots from opening night.

From the show statement:

These began as gestural strokes and were reinterpreted and assembled in reference to geometric abstraction, the cubist grid and carved panels of religious text (刻字, kokuji). The arrangements were carved into treated sheets of polystyrene foam and printed by hand.

The soft textures and tonal contrast create a push-pull dynamic between foreground and background. Each piece can be experienced as a whole design, by reading methodically along horizontal or vertical lines, or by being lead from one shape to another by visual cues: hierarchies, suggestions of movement, exchange of foreground and background, points of instability and rest.

The gap between the viewer and the work is active space articulating the complexity of vision, feeling and thought. The consciousness searches for representation or narrative, and their absence opens the potential for an emotional response. The works bridge mind and matter.

Top: Point of Tension 01, 02

Bottom: Point of Tension 03, 04

Left: A Field Guide to Minor Anxieties

Right: Some Things I Have Forgotten

Top: That Thing You Said 01, 02

Bottom: That Thing You Said 03, 04

Left: That Thing You Did 01 – 04

Right: The Concrete Content of Experience

Left: An Opportunity To Say Nothing

Right: The Five Colours That Blind Our Sight

Red September

Chant For The Slighted

Opening night was fun, and the next night there were huge crowds from the annual art-walk Rove.

Many thanks to everyone who came out to support the local arts scene!

Aya’s delicious catering was gobbled up. Highlights were the roast beef sushi rolls and matcha meringues.

Tim Gerwing generously played atmospheric guitar for both nights. His beautiful music fit the evening and the artwork perfectly.

Tim is preparing the release of a new album. Check for news and info on his site: lascaux21.com