Duane Reed Gallery: Friday, 28 February 2014

RAIN HARRIS
February 28th through March 29th
Opening Reception
February 28th from 5-8 p.m.

During the summer of 2012 Harris was an artist in residence at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China. While there, Harris watched ceramic artisans replicate fabric flowers, transforming them by hand into ultra-thin porcelain flowers one petal at a time. Upon her return, she blended some of the Chinese techniques with her own methods to create ornamentation that saunters from refined to bewitchingly gaudy. Her hand-pinched floral shapes are approachable, yet allude to the complex concepts of beauty and taste.

Many of the works are made from black clay, visually contrasting the stark white porcelain, while bringing up associations with Victorian sentiments revolving around morbidity and excess. There is also a wink and a nod to collections such as Wunderkammers or Cabinets of Curiosities as well as the Blaschka Flowers along with a myriad of other embedded sources. This confluence of tangible ideas, materials and cultural perceptions creates visual hybridity, which allows the viewer to bring in their own associations and interpretations into the work’s meaning.

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10-5pm.

DUANE REED GALLERY
4729 McPHERSON AVE.
ST. LOUIS, MO 63108
314.361.4100
WWW.DUANEREEDGALLERY.COM
info@duanereedgallery.com
314.361.4100
314.361.4102 f