Elsewhere, in Another Form
Nikki Pressley
Elsewhere, in Another Form
October 26 - December 6, 2013
SHOW CATALOG (PDF)
PRESS RELEASE (PDF)
When you awaken an observation, a certainty, a hope, they are already struggling somewhere, elsewhere, in another form. –Edouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation
In Poetics of Relation, Martinicean writer Edouard Glissant speaks of the idea of errantry. It is this idea of relative and intentional wandering for a beginning and a conception of identity that has inspired this body of work. In his writings, Glissant views this wandering as rhizomatic, creating relationships between object/body, place and idea that cross multiple boundaries, while leaving a space for reflection and projection. This work is concerned with generation of meaning and narrative through objects and space, particularly objects that point to routine domestic life while addressing the desire for a transformative personal and collective existence.
Narrative plays a subliminal role in the works, as it is an element courses through every part of daily life – personal, spiritual, physical, geographical, imaginative. All of it is connected to a story line that we are actively creating and dismantling. The works explore the application of this interest in narrative directly to objects and spaces, particularly those related to an idea of home. Narrative and formal connections are created between images, objects, cultural lineage and the basic routine of life. Certain objects from the drawings are transformed in the space to create new meaning and function.
The drawings in the show are landscape studies that use domestic space as focal point, subtly pointing to the struggle to place oneself within a narrative and pondering how context can be lost and projected through that journey. The sculptural objects replicate the objects found in the drawings, yet are transformed to create slightly different and new manifestations. These new manifestations become further studies in a dialogue between both form and function.
Also included in this exhibition is the introduction of the narrative of Othar ‘Otha’ Turner. A farmer in Northern Mississippi whose playing of the fife, a small flute fashioned out of bamboo, coupled with his life as a farmer created a space for community, lineage and a transgressive existence connecting ancient African musical traditions within the context of farm life and the agency derived from this routine. Works in the gallery explore his instrument, music and daily routine through the lens of repetition, lineage and language.
Nikki Pressley was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1982. She received her BA from Furman University and her MFA California Institute of the Arts in 2008. Pressley has had solo exhibitions at Furman University and Las Cienegas Projects. Nikki was included in the fourth installment of the emerging artist exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Fore, and was also included in the 2010 California Biennial. She has participated in group exhibitions at the New Museum in New York, California African American Museum, UC Irvine, FOCA, Charlie James Gallery, Torrance Art Museum, Coma Art Space in Los Angeles and others. She is also a contributor/Art Director for the Liberator Magazine. Nikki currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
Installation
