Existing comment:
In Reveal, Rebecca Kamen unlocks curiosity as a creative link between the arts, humanities, and sciences, exploring the symbiotic relationship behind scientific research and artistic development. From her extensive collaborations with scientists, philosophers, and a sound artist to her own life experience, the exhibition harnesses the emotive power of abstraction to humanize scientific breakthroughs in novel and unexpected directions.
An interrelated series of thematic sections chronicle Kamen's journey from a general interest in the human brain through her own brain tumor and aftermath to the novel coronavirus, with a personal cabinet of curiosities serving as introduction. Featured are diaristic paintings, titled Reverie, which capture the dizzying effects of her post-surgical double vision; Sparking Curiosity, a Semantic Network Data Visualization created in partnership with scientists at the University of Pennsylvania; and intricate sculptures examining the brain's complex systems, solar corona flares and the coronavirus, along with Illuminations, a new series that probes the Euclidean geometry underlying these macro and micro phenomena.
The exhibition culminates in the meditative Silent Spread, a graphite on mylar, wall- mounted installation where 28 diaphanous sculptures of the coronavirus reflect and trace the migratory pattern of COVID-19. In response, Virion Breaths, an enveloping soundscape composed by Shodekeh Talifero, reimagines the individual sculptures as a cycle of expanding and contracting breaths.
Guided by the associative language of visual poetry Kamen continues to seek a positive outcome from difficult circumstance, coaxing works into being that inspire a fresh outlook while forging a dynamic model for both individual and societal inquiry and growth.
Sarah Tanguy, Curator |