#MaterialWitnessSD
Material Witness showcases four borderlands artists who experiment with environmental factors, such as light and water to document their surroundings using craft processes. From Luciano Pimienta’s raw clay sculptures that erode overtime to Hiromi Takizawa’s ghostly glass impressions of collected rainwater, the featured artists harness the unique properties of clay, glass, wood, and metal to capture provocative moments in their material’s lifetime. The reflective surfaces of Leslie Shershow’s jewelry and monumental sculpture play with the presence of artificial and natural light sources while Brandon Secrest’s wooden sculptures shape shift in response to changes in their environment.
The process of transforming a material into an object is somewhat alchemical and serves as an artifact of the environmental circumstances that influenced its current form. Like the rings of a tree, a person’s collection of experiences with a material informs how they understand it. Each experience builds another layer of understanding as different variables of time, circumstances, and ideas, challenge previous conceptions.
This exhibition calls for further interrogation of humanity’s impact on the environment. As time moves forward, the works will continue to change, encouraging new observations.
Material Witness is curated by Kathryn Hall Asaro, Adam Manley, and Kerianne Quick. The exhibition is a 2024 World Design Capital participant.
The exhibition is supported in part by Craft Desert and Allied Craftsmen of San Diego.
Luciano Pimienta: Born and based in Los Angeles, Luciano Pimienta received his MFA from San Diego State University and a BFA from Alfred University in New York. He creates ephemeral clay works, inspired by transformative processes in nature, such as erosion. Pimienta utilizes materials commonly found in the borderlands, such as the nopal cacti or chain link fence, to explore human nature and notions of desire. Drawing from his familial history and personal narrative, he inquires about how learned histories can shape a society’s connection with nature as well as an individual’s relationship with the land and sense of belonging. Recent exhibitions such as Alien Race: Envisioning sites of Our Future Ancestors (2022) at LA Artcore (Los Angeles) and Ways of Knowing (2021-2022) at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego further explored these themes.
Brandon Eugene Secrest: Brandon is an interdisciplinary artist working in San Diego as a lecturer of Applied Design at San Diego State University and an Artist-in-Residence at Bread & Salt, San Diego. Secrest has an MFA in Applied Design, a BFA in Sculpture and in Painting and a BS in English Literature. His work is a material investigation into how direct experiences shape how humans conceive of existence and the validity of those existential concepts. His primary interest is in the phenomenology of materials within built environments. Secondarily, his work grapples with the cultural structures–industries, economic, and political systems that interact with phenomenological factors, and the agency that individuals have within these interlocked systems.
Leslie Shershow: Based in San Diego, Leslie Shershow is a jeweler and teacher, whose projects explore themes of memory, nostalgia, longing, and the souvenir. She received her BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and her MFA from San Diego State University. Currently, she is a lecturer at San Diego State University and San Diego College of Continuing Education. She previously taught at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, New Mexico State University, Penland School of Crafts. Shershow has exhibited in numerous institutions, including a solo exhibition of her work, Escape Route (2023) at Sienna Patti Contemporary and the 2021 Schmuck exhibition in Munich. Her curatorial and personal projects include Hearts + Flowers (2021) at Brooklyn Metal Works and Jewelry Generator (2020).
Hiromi Takizawa: Hiromi Takizawa (b. Nagano, Japan) works in Santa Ana. Curiosity, experimentation, narrative, and materiality encapsulate her artistic practice. Hiromi is an Associate Professor in Glass at California State University, Fullerton. Hiromi has exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Heller Gallery and UrbanGlass, Orange County Museum of Art, and group exhibitions at the Museum of American Glass, Craft in America Center in Los Angeles, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and S12 Gallery in Norway. She has taught workshops, sharing her passion for working with glass, at Pilchuck Glass School in WA, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in MA, and Toyama Glass Institute in Japan.
CRAFT DESERT
Kerianne Quick and Adam Manley founded CRAFT DESERT in 2018 as a biannual handmade zine, which has evolved to include curatorial projects and more. CRAFT DESERT addresses how and why we make today, presenting an expansive view of craft with a strong focus on content in the Desert Southwest and Borderlands. Many of the projects demonstrate how the Southwest is a place where innovative craftwork is plentiful but often hidden, overlooked, or mislabeled. Featured artists connect with the region in some way: as natives, transplants, or drifting tumbleweeds.
Collaboration is at the heart of CRAFT DESERT as Quick and Manley have invited contributions from curators, writers, and artists. In the Spring of 2022, Quick and Manley curated Small Acts at the City Gallery in Downtown San Diego, featuring over 60 artists from across North America, marking their first exhibition. Quick and Manley produced their final serialized zine in the Winter of 2023 with plans to continue to expand their work in different ways. In their newest collaboration, Quick and Manley curated Material Witness with New York-based independent curator Kathryn Hall Asaro.
May 25 – August 17, 2024
City Gallery
AH314
Arts & Humanities Building
San Diego City College
1508 C Street
San Diego, California 92101
Opening Reception
Saturday, May 25, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
craftdesert.org 