RATA Project’s show Here or There curated by Audrée Anid and Rachel Tretter at 1 Rivington Street, addresses notions of identity through the material and conceptual exploration of textiles and painting. Artists Kaveri Raina and Paolo Arao navigate personal histories and cultural frameworks through process-based work. Both relying on improvisation and experimentation to access alternate aspects of consciousness, they reveal vulnerabilities and highly personal realities.
Relinquishing control within the specific parameters of the canvas, both artists redefine the meaning of ‘painting’. Raina views paint as clay, sculpting with a viscous wet medium, while Arao defines his sewn fabric pieces as paintings. The results are alluring within the gallery space, the organic abstraction of Raina’s work are juxtaposed with the geometric abstraction of Arao’s pieces.
Kaveri Raina applies paint with a viscerally sculptural approach. Through this technique, she synthesizes her bi-national upbringing with the conceptual application of paint on burlap. Raina refers to burlap as the crux of her memories growing up in New Delhi, and uses the woven fibers to represent her cultural being and physical self. She pushes the medium thickly, through un-stretched burlap from behind; allowing the colors to bleed. Then, she paints on the front as a response; formulating a dialogue of past and present perspectives to clarify a specific experience. However, it is ultimately up to the burlap, or pseudo-body to explore the duality of herself.
Kaveri Raina Shy In, Revisited Yet Again, 2016-2019 Acrylic, oil pastel, charcoal, burlap 60 x 48 inches (152.5 x 122 cm)
With compositions featuring of amorphous shapes, Raina welcomes the viewer into her mind space to interpret her visions. The work, Shy In, Revisited Yet Again (2016-2019) has obvious depictions, such as an elephant in the bottom right, yet what strikes me the most are the more abstract protean forms that allow alternate context. The seemingly flat background layer emerges to the foreground, reaching to connect from alternate points of the canvas. Its growth stretches across the radial energy emitting from the center of the work, creating a silhouette reminiscent of arms reaching toward each other. Hybrids of humans and animals fluctuate from the front and the back of the canvas, appearing to eye as quickly as they dissolve from the mind.
The visceral quality of bleeding paint induces a strong emotional effect on me. I cannot help but to reflect on self-sacrifice - the being behind the screen and the artist in front of it. As Raina connects the bleeding paint from the back to the seeping paint on the surface, she does not just complete the painting, she completes herself.
Paolo Arao identifies his textile-based works as conceptual paintings, utilizing the vernacular of craft and quilt-making to express his identity as a queer man. By asserting himself within the cultural histories of textiles, Arao expands the medium to encompass paintings and reclaims notions of masculinity and gender roles. Working on the floor, Arao envisions colors as musical notes; stitched together to create chords. These reverberating ‘sounds’ echo his presence within society; created out of Filipino textiles and found materials, constructed within the framework of patterns derived from domestic histories of the Amish and Gee's Bend. His painting harnesses all facets of his identity; the stitches represent his DNA, systematic and impersonal. Yet looking closely, the a-symmetrical imperfections of misaligned seams enhance the integrity of the process, as well as an honest, open and vulnerable mind space of the artist. When stepping back, with no evidence of the artists hand, Paolo Arao creates alternate, meditative spaces that represent the patterns of a mandala; a portal of self reflection and rejuvenation.
Paolo Arao First Breath (for Pia) 2019 68 x 55 inches (172.7 x 139.7 cm)
Within the patterns of the work, I can’t help but to reflect on internal narratives of Arao and how he articulates his assimilation into society. In First Breath (For Pia) (2019), my eye travels by naturally by section, starting from the top left. Finding visual balance in each quarter, the perpetual motion of First Breath (For Pia) (2019) reminds me of growth and identity. Though one ‘life’ may seem off kilter and incomplete, it is part of a larger, more beautiful and balanced reality. More demanding compositions, such as Haptic Chromatic (2019) remind me of a hierarchical political scale. With increasing volume of overlapping pyramidal triangles, Arao asserts his presence within society, perhaps reclaiming the pink triangle abused in World War II. Yet no matter the political interpretation, Haptic Chromatic catalyzes an uplifting emotion through volume, hue, and contrast.
The bodies of work in Here or There delve into the interrelationships between artists and their reality. Relying on the rhythm of their subconscious, Kaveri Raina and Paolo Arao create raw depictions of their experiences through material exploration. As a result, they depict the middle ground, between Here or There. The images articulate the questions and conflictions, advocate presence and purpose, while providing an audience the opportunity to create their own interpretations within a shared mind space.
The exhibition is organized by RATA Projects, the curatorial team helmed by Audrée Anid and Rachel Tretter and runs from October 23 - November 24.
1 Rivington Street is run by Stellar Projects, a curatorial platform for the arts organized by Candice Madey.