Portland, OR – Bullseye Projects presents a group exhibition that explores ideation through the experimental art practices of three Northwest artists, featuring Anna Mlasowsky, Abi Spring, and Matthew Szösz. Origins will be on view July 1 through October 3, 2015.
The artist studio is a mythological, hybrid space that is both beholden to the past and to the future. Inside this space, artists respond to and reference the history of art while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of their materials. Artists Anna Mlasowsky, Abi Spring, and Matthew Szösz embody this duality, employing techniques or forms often seen in other media. Origins examines the creative process by examining the varied practices of these three artists.
Anna Mlasowsky’s practice often employs new technology to reinterpret or engage with obsolete or obscure craft techniques. Untitled Blue I (2014), created during her residency at the Bullseye Resource Center Bay Area, combines traditional pâte de verre methods with 3D modeling and printing techniques. In 2014 Mlasowsky was awarded a Technology Advancing Glass Grant from the Glass Art Society for developing this method.
“The backbone of my work is meditative mark making,” says Portland-based artist Abi Spring. The intersecting, repetitive marks found in Black and White Glass 7 (2014) creates an atmospheric space within the composition, evoking the meditative state that Spring enters while in the studio. The drips of white and black enamel interact with each other chaotically, resulting in works that are created through the marks and conditions in which the marks were made.
Matthew Szösz’s practice involves the interaction between intense planning and the application of natural processes like heat, gravity, and expansion. “Complexity is fashioned not by an auteur artist, but by a series of simple physical steps that add up to be more than the sum of their parts,” says Szösz. Known for creating custom kilns and tools, Szösz pushes the limits of kiln-glass, creating complex geometric and biological forms that are inflated or stretched.