This exhibition of new work results from Fuglem's ongoing preoccupation with non-visible, sensed characteristics of "empty space" such as conversation residue, the lingering presence of someone who has just left, or the notion of someone "being with us" after they have died.
"Taking my cue from the tenacious spiders whose wisps disturb my presumption of an empty room, I've made two sculptures by slowly building up threads in accumulative weaving systems. From their outer perimeters, roughly gauged by my arms, outstretched, the threads' gestural geometry gradually embraces human-scale spaces. Unseen meditative distances - where my mind "goes" when I do this repetitive work - have their touched counterpart in the lengths of material, some kilometres of thread. My commitment to the task of concentrating on the place left by one who is gone becomes embodied in it. I get lost in the process, at which point, I am space, as much as in it."
Alongside these sculptures are drawings scratched into clear vinyl sheets, subtle distortions of the smooth, reflective surfaces. They are part of Fuglem's "invisible drawings" series - so called because their challenge to visual perception heightens awareness of the complexities of visual experience. These latest drawings attest to reflection as a thing in itself: one cannot look at them without having to deal with the maddeningly shiny surface. Finally, the reflected room around - indeed, one's own physical presence - are necessarily part of the experience of looking.
Karilee Fuglem sincerely thanks Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and The Canada Council.
Karilee Fuglem's "Connective tissue drawings" use elements of drawing (repetitive gesture, water, paper, and ink) in an intuitive use of a traditional discipline, taking into account the collaboration between the material and the artist in her exploration into "the indefinite something that exists between what is knowable and what is not".
The artist states: "The process involves drawing in water. Paper is the repository, a transfer point as in writing and reading; the final object is the wrinkled residue of once-was-wetness. The drawings are nearly invisible in the making as I must continuously move around to catch the light reflecting off the pools before they evaporate, eventually drying into relief maps of my perceptual struggles. This work is subtle, but challenging in that it is not obvious what it is, inviting a closer inspection. It would integrate well into an environment where it will be lived with on a daily basis."
ARTICLES
Crevier, Lyne. Ici, Filer l'ange, May 19 - 25, 2005, p44
Tousignant, Isa. Hour, Artlist, April 28th, 2005, p18
Redfern, Christine. The Mirror, Look Again, 28 avril - 4 mai, 2005 Vol. 20 No. 44
