Jennifer Reifsneider: Stitched

Jennifer Reifsneider: Stitched

Jennifer Reifsneider: Stitched Presented by: Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art Mungas/Volk Gallery November 21 - December 31, 2008 All images 2008, courtesy of Jennifer Reifsneider On-line catalog 2008, Paris Gibson Square, Inc. All rights reserved. Catalog designed by Bob Durden, Curator of Art, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art. Cover: One Eighth of Desire (detail from installation), 25 pounds of rubber bands, 2003/2007, installation variable dimensions as shown 144 x 216 x 96 inches. This page: Field/Silence (detail), dictionary pages and tape, 2000/2007. Museum programming is made possible by the generosity of museum members and supporters, with on-going assistance from The National Endowment for the Arts, the Montana Arts Council and the Citizens of Cascade County.

(Figure 1) Field/Silence, dictionary pages and tape, 2000/2007, 80 x 80 x 8 inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of a private collector, Spokane, Washington. 1

Curator s Statement The stitch is the basic, yet essential ingredient in all of the selected works in this exhibition and to a great extent, in most of the artist s work. It is with the stitch that Jennifer Reifsneider builds larger metaphors for containment in her recent work. At the most fundamental level, the stitch is both the container and the contained, with each stitch relying on the other to support and complete it exemplifying what she refers to as the aporetic border between parts and whole. Within the astute and minimalist sensibility about the most miniscule element of her process, Jennifer embraces and enlarges our understanding of method, material and her larger intellectual concerns. She builds upon a domestic craft that possibly dates back to 1100 A.D. and transforms the more recent knitting tradition of this century into a completely contemporary sculptural form. 2 The casual viewer, upon examination of an individual object by the artist, might observe a beautifully crafted, subtle though puzzling object that on its own may not reveal the artist s entire intent. But in this realization, one would acknowledge that something deeper is at play. By examining a larger group of work, the threads of the artist s intentions are weft more clearly. The elegance and simplicity of Child s Sweater (fig. 9) can be appreciated for what it seems to be. But when it is considered in a larger context and in association with its cousin, Children s Sweaters (fig. 2), the message begins to change. In the latter, the sweaters become connected seamlessly with their mirror opposite to create an unexpected and improbable reference to the craft at the same time that the sculpture communicates a whimsical narrative. But upon

(Figure 2) Children s Sweaters, 2007, wool and hangers, 18 x 26 x 16 inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. 3

further reflection, the narrative becomes more deeply rooted in the philosophy of structuralism, an ideology that developed in the 1950 s and 60 s, and the artistic statement moves beyond sentiment to create a visual and psychological tension less absurd than quintessentially human and kind. The notion of the embrace as a metaphor for containment is ironic given the absence of the children, but this absence negates the sentimentality that might otherwise result. Additionally, the color of the wool (neutral but rich, non-gender specific, and devoid of decorative stitching) contains a powerful message about the need for emotional interdependence and validation (absent of gender bias) experienced so strongly in childhood. Other interpretations abound. 4 The sublime aspects of Jennifer Reifsneider s work become more poignant and meaningful once we ve realized that there is something more at stake in the work than making interesting, well crafted objects for their own sake. Container for Unknit Stitches (fig. 3) can then be better understood for what it really represents: structuralism, which among other things suggests that there is structure at the most rudimentary level of everything. Returning to the stitch as a building block for metaphors of containment, Jennifer s playful sculptures relate the fundamental structuralist idea succinctly. The idea of unknit stitches is a paradox and in the context of this sculpture they are contained only because of the existence of that which they would become. The contrast between the black and white yarns heightens the contrast between the formed and the unformed. And though the unknit stitches are unformed, they still have a structure within the container. The artist seems to be conveying a visual metaphor for the building blocks of life and relationships.

(Figure 3) Container for Unknit Stitches, 2007, mohair, cotton, jute, linen and wool, 10 x 30 inches in diameter. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. 5

Jennifer Reifsneider also exercises her notions of containment by utilizing the stitch, from the sewing tradition, to great effect in quasi-two-dimensional works such as Sum and Difference (fig. 4). In this example, she elevates a two-dimensional printed dictionary page into a three-dimensional visual statement (the dimensionality is minute and sublime). And where is the containment? It lies in the printed word associations, between the object and the object s title and between the printed word and the silk thread stitching subtle, ironic, and exquisite. Impassibility becomes passable and impermeably becomes permeable. The artist literally negates the function of these word definitions within the new context of this object utilizing a simple, but lovely and unassuming stitch. Furthermore, the words and their definitions on the page are completely bound to one another to reinforce the notion of containment. At first, the impression is that the words have been crossed out, but on very close inspection this is not at all the case. The words are tied together, negating the verbal punctuation. The print is now tied completely together it is whole and it is contained. Jennifer Reifsneider s use of other banal materials such as bed sheets in Medicine Ball (fig. 6) and rubber bands in One Eighth of Desire (fig. 10) is so visually and intellectually pleasing that one looks past the materials original purposes to find the deeper messages, structures and intentions. To a great extent, the real strength in the work is the artist s ability to make complex ideas and structural relationships appear so elegant, simple and seemingly obvious; utilizing a basic mechanical system the stitch. Bob Durden, Curator of Art 6 Jennifer Reifsneider received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography and Fine Art at Rochester Institute of Technology in 1995. After working at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, she moved to Missoula, Montana in 1997 and began her 11 year tenure as Curator of Collections and Registrar for the Missoula Art Museum. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Montana, Washington and Colorado. Her work is in numerous private and public collections, including the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana. In August of this year, she relocated to Long Beach, California to attend the Master of Fine Arts program in Sculpture with a Fibers emphasis at California State University.

(Figure 4) Sum and Difference, 2007, dictionary page and silk, 9 ½ x 6 ½ inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. 7

Artist s Statement The Greek philosopher Heraclitus observed: The most beautiful world is like a heap of rubble tossed down in confusion. My method of working seeks an experience of that beauty and definition amid the confusion. I welcome the paradox and contradiction that are inherent in this quest, and strive for the tension Heidegger identifies in the unity of well-distinguished opposites resting in connectedness but caught in a sublime struggle in which each opponent carries the other beyond itself. My sculptures grow from layers of materials, actions, and uncomplicated contrasts of forms, textures, and intentions. I am fascinated by the phenomenological reversibility of world and ground and drawn to the dual attractive / repellent nature of containment. James Elkins s assertion that, since world and ground are ever-changing, all metaphors of containment must fail motivates me to explore the aporetic border between parts and whole, identity and indifference, and presence and absence. However, my basic motivation for working is summed up by Louise Bourgeois s claim that art is restoration: the idea is to repair the damages that are inflicted in life, to make something that is fragmented into something whole. This challenge to Elkins s prediction that all containment must fail inspires me to craft works that defy expectation and withstand the stress of creation and existence. 8

(Figure 5) The Shortest Distance Between Two Points, 2007, unwound rope and silk thread, 143 long installation size variable. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of Patricia Dunkum, Missoula, Montana. 9

An important formal and conceptual goal is to achieve an economy of the essential. Simple, repeated gestures performed by my own hands, like scratching, sewing, knitting, wrapping, and piling, or by the natural forces of erosion, condensation, and gravity, allow for precise intent and quiet, meditative purpose. My intuitive use of common but meaningful media like mirrors, salt, wax, wool, newsprint, and dictionaries is similar to Claude Levi-Strauss s definition of bricolage as spontaneous creativity fueled by the immediacy and contingency of collected materials. The human body and other natural forms feed the theme of containment, whether as comforting shelter or repressive restraint. Like their organic sources, the works created in fall 2007 are increasingly malleable and are more adaptive to architectural and public spaces than earlier, static works. I am interested in pursuing this trend in future works, and in experimenting with the relational aesthetics of time and space while retaining intimate handcraft and objecthood. Jennifer Reifsneider 10

(Figure 6) Medicine Ball, 2007, bed sheets and thread, 10 inches in diameter. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. 11

12 (Figure 7) Axis, 2007, muslin and beeswax, 53 x 4 x 4 inches (installation size variable). Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist.

(Figure 8) Dictionary, 1998, dictionary and string, 9 ½ x 7 x 2 inches. Lent to the exhibition from the Collection of Ben Mitchell and Kasey Keeler, Spokane, Washington. 13

Exhibition Checklist: Dictionary, 1998, dictionary and string, 9 1/2 x 7 x 2 inches. Lent to the exhibition from the Collection of Ben Mitchell and Kasey Keeler, Spokane, Washington. Field/Silence, 2000/2007, dictionary pages and tape, 80 x 80 x 8 inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of a private collector, Spokane, Washington. One Eighth of Desire, 2003/2007, 25 pounds of rubber bands, installation variable (dimensions as shown on figure 10, 144 x 216 x 96 inches). Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. Axis, 2007, muslin and beeswax, 53 x 4 x 4 inches (installation size variable). Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. Sum and Difference, 2007, dictionary page and silk, 9 ½ x 6 ½ inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. Child s Sweater, 2007, wool and hanger, 16 x 16 x 3 inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. The Shortest Distance Between Two Points, 2007, unwound rope and silk thread, 143 long installation size variable. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of Patricia Dunkum, Missoula, Montana. Children s Sweaters, 2007, wool and hangers, 18 x 26 x 16 inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. Medicine Ball, 2007, bed sheets and thread, 10 inches in diameter. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. 14 Container for Unknit Stitches, 2007, mohair, cotton, jute, linen and wool, 10 x 30 inches in diameter. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. (Figure 9) Child s Sweater, 2007, wool and hanger, 16 x 16 x 3 inches. Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist.

(Figure 10) One Eighth of Desire, 2003/2007, 25 pounds of rubber bands, installation variable (dimensions as shown, 144 x 216 x 96 inches). Lent to the exhibition courtesy of the artist. 15

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