Av
2019 - Sculpture (Sculpture)
162.56 x 116.84 cm
Erin Jane Nelson
In Erin Jane Nelson’s 2019 body of work Av, panels are covered in collaged images and shellacked with resin or epoxy: photographs of plants intermingle with pictures of men and women engaging in various spiritual activities, cartoons of mothers and their children, or black and white images of window panes. The panels and ceramics act as backdrops upon which Nelson attempts to establish connections between the natural world and the various cultural and religious orders we impose upon it. She incorporates Jewish symbolism and archival photographs alongside her ongoing photographic practice documenting the environmental collapse of her home region. This work finds the young American artist examining her southern Jewish heritage in the same breath as climate change and feminism. Av (meaning father) is titled after a biblical or ceremonial allusion. Nelson’s works include many figures, mostly women, performing rites and rituals traditionally assigned to men: wrapping tefillin straps around their arms, reading Torah, wearing a prayer shawl and leading services. The word “Rebirthing” is visible in the upper left. A mezuzah – an ornament that contains a prayer and marks the doors of Jewish homes – is placed over the wrist of one of the hands, like a bracelet. What might “rebirthing” mean in the context of our political, social, and economic climate? What can be unlearned, relearned, and shared through ritual acts of empathy and trust? What role can a concept as unfashionable as faith play in contemporary dialogue concerning patrimony and survival? Where do people presently make space for collective healing, joy, and support? What can the ceremonies of our past teach us about our sure-to-be disembodied and perilous futures?
Artist Erin Jane Nelson’s practice is grounded in photography sourced from her personal archive of found and original images. She works serially, with each project delving into new conceptual frameworks, from cultural anxiety around climate change to the sentience of octopuses, or the science fiction of our present moment. Her photographic elements merge onto unexpected support structures, their multiple references engaging the nuanced anxiety, conflict, and humor of the present and immediate future. Along with ceramics, found textiles and collaged photographs typical of earlier bodies of work, Nelson incorporates natural dyeing techniques that fix her works with the colors and ghosts of plants and insects. She represents a cohort of young artists based outside of New York who are increasingly speaking at the intersection of art, craft, climate, and belief.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Podcast Interview: Performance Photographers | Arts Equator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Festival (Podcast) Crispian Chan (by Izdiyad Ahmad), Bernie Ng (by Biru Chua), Kuang Jingkai April 24, 2019 Duration: 45 min In this interview with Crispian Chan , Bernie Ng and Kuang Jingkai , three photographers of theatre and dance, we get to know more about a profession that’s sometimes taken for granted but is an essential aspect of the packaging of a performance...
© » CONTEMPORARYAND
Book List on Post-Colonial Theory from the C& Library | Contemporary And search for something search C& AMÉRICA LATINA EN FR MEMBERSHIP EN FR Editorial All Editorial Features Installation Views Inside the Library Interviews News Opinions Events All Events Art Fairs Conferences Exhibitions Festivals Performances Screenings Talks / Workshops C& Projects C& Artists’ Editions C& Commissions C& Center of Unfinished Business Show me your shelves! C& Education Mentoring Program Critical Writing Workshops Lectures / Seminars Membership Opportunities Print C& Audio Archive On Tour Places Explore IN CONVERSATION INSTALLATION VIEW WE GOT ISSUES DETOX LABORATORY OF SOLIDARITY CONSCIOUS CODES CURRICULUM OF CONNECTIONS LOVE ACTUALLY OVER THE RADAR BLACK CULTURES MATTER INSIDE THE LIBRARY LOOKING BACK Follow About Contact Newsletter Advertise Imprint Data protection Membership Contemporary And (C&) is funded by: Editorial All Editorial Features Installation Views Inside the Library Interviews News Opinions Events All Events Art Fairs Conferences Exhibitions Festivals Performances Screenings Talks / Workshops C& Projects C& Artists’ Editions C& Commissions C& Center of Unfinished Business Show me your shelves! C& Education Mentoring Program Critical Writing Workshops Lectures / Seminars Membership Opportunities Print C& Audio Archive On Tour Places Explore IN CONVERSATION INSTALLATION VIEW WE GOT ISSUES DETOX LABORATORY OF SOLIDARITY CONSCIOUS CODES CURRICULUM OF CONNECTIONS LOVE ACTUALLY OVER THE RADAR BLACK CULTURES MATTER INSIDE THE LIBRARY LOOKING BACK GO TO C& AMÉRICA LATINA About Contact Newsletter Advertise Imprint Data protection Membership C& Center of Unfinished Business Book List on Post-Colonial Theory from the C& Library Our library offers a wide selection of books that are connected to the topic of (post-)colonialism in various ways and help us to understand the now...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: Goodbye gamelan maestro; Charlie Chan to get animated | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss/David von Becker November 12, 2020 ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Cakap-Cakap: Interview with Jo Kukathas for Air Con | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints September 23, 2021 We cakap-cakap (chit-chat) with Jo Kukathas about The Instant Café Theatre Company’s upcoming screening of Air Con , an award-winning 2008 play written by Shanon Shah...
© » KADIST
Cheikh Ndiaye
2014Adjamé, Charbon reflects on both global environmental discourses and domestic impacts of the use and trade of coal...
© » KADIST
Adelita Husni-Bey
2011Postcards from the Desert Island is a remake of a 50s educational film Holiday from the rules in which four children interact with an omniscient narrator who teleports them to a tropical island where there are no rules...
© » KADIST
James "Yaya" Hough
2016This untitled ink and pencil drawing by James “Yaya” Hough is made on what the artist calls “institutional paper”, or the state-issued forms that monitor the daily activities of prisoners, of which, each detainee is generally required to fill out in triplicate...
© » KADIST
Jazmín López
2008Shot on 35mm in two simply framed shots, Jazmín López’s Juego Vivo captures children at play, mixing imagination, reality, innocence, and violence...
© » IGNANT
Deep In The Balinese Jungle, TianTaru Preserves The Lost Art Of Indigo Dyeing - IGNANT Name TianTaru Words Anna Dorothea Ker Prized since ancient times for its alluring hue and medicinal properties, indigo holds an illustrious history of textile coloration and enhancement across Asian, Africa and South America—from Tutankhamen’s burial linens to the garments Samurai wore under their armor...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Austrian singer collaborates with ‘angklung’ musicians at Indonesian Cultural Night in Vienna (via The Jakarta Post) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar July 10, 2018 Angklung musicians featuring Austrian soprano Maria Theresia Gruber staged the song Bengawan Solo at the Indonesian Cultural Night event held at Vienna’s Weltmuseum on Tuesday evening...