The Turmoil of Being Solo Show at Hashimoto Contemporary

This show highlights my multifaceted studio practice featuring new works on paper, fabricated sculptures and a large scale installation. I utilized a broad range of techniques to inter-weave imagery from a myriad of cultures.

Taking cues from Renaissance portraiture, totalitarian propaganda and Eastern iconography, my goal is to create a unique universe of historic characters and anthropomorphic creatures. The figures are precisely rendered to emulate the stylings of Japanese wood-block illustrations, Medieval religious art, and zoological drawings. However, each pastiche is intervened with bold reference to modernity and a looming dystopian future.

The Turmoil of Being brings together several of my ongoing bodies of work. The Age of Enlightenment series combines traditional methods of printmaking, assemblage, and painting. Dreamlike, unsettling and mysterious, these works unify what is seemingly unrelated, to strive towards something universal.

Pieces from the Mightier Than series will also be on display. For those, I’ve dismantled and welded together pieces of antique typewriters to create realistic depictions of modern assault rifles. Upon closer inspection, barrels and triggers are merely carriages and keys. Each weapon is even loaded with ammunition meticulously crafted from discarded pencil stubs and fountain-pens. This work confronts the violent and absurd by re-interpreting the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

The exhibition culminates in a life-size sculptural installation. An elaborately costumed Samurai rides on horseback, wielding an assembled typewriter rifle.

I hope you can make it out to see the show before it closes on September 24th.

Gallery images via Artsy.

THE TURMOIL OF BEING

Hashimoto Contemporary
804 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

September 1 – September 24

Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 1, 2016
6 – 10 PM

Contact info@hashimotocontemporary.com to inquire about available artwork.