‘In Crystallized Time’

‘In Crystallized Time’ is a group exhibition that showcases works that are sensible to the speed accruing in societal structures as they develop technologically. Historically, artists have responded to and reflected upon the past, predicted the future, or tried to translate the fleetingness of the present; isolating and recreating experiences. Thee contemporary practice of painting and sculpture, parallel to the rise of digital processes and the internet, is adapting to consider our perception of time and reality within high-speed environments. Thee internet is an apparent informant for the selected works on view. Aesthetically, much of the work simulates spaces familiar behind screens. The pursuits of the works reach beyond a trivial goal like mimicking digital gestures, though that tactic is a common component in the works. Low and high fidelity graphics are meticulously painted and merge inside twisting landscapes and figures, gripping to a reality which exists in our memories or dreams; sometimes behind a screen. The subversion of material and warping of otherwise recognizable images are deceitful, questioning feelings of familiarity. The views are mechanical feeling and rely on images that are products of developments in surveillance, software, and other media. These references, ultimately accessible via Google Search, are frameworks for imagining the space that straddles physical and digital reality. The coldness of a machine still can elicit a visceral response. These devices are controlling, yet offer an idea of authentic decision making by the user (viewer). Our memories can be easily manipulated and fabricated. Our perception of time is affected by the digital and virtual. It can be a bit unsettling, how we have become reliant upon and responsive to data, a world of 1’s and 0’s, all funneled through a specific vantage point, and how it is able to construct a nostalgia for experiences we can relate to, but might have never had.