Snezana Saraswati Petrovic and Chenhung Chen both weave. They weave artistic magic. They weave respectively using recyclable plastics and recycled metals and wire.
The result is something fascinating and fabulous in their paired solo exhibitions at Launch Gallery in mid-city. From paintings created from silvery staples to mesh wire basket and bell shapes from Chen to 3D-printed plastic corals from Petrovic, this work is lush and lovely, while also speaking to climate change, lost legacies, recyled materials, and reshaped hopes.
What do we envision for ourselves? Can we recreate the world and make it new again? These artists believe the answer is yes. Petrovic gives us dying and healthy corals in a variety of shapes and sizes, AR viewable images of sealife; Chen provides floral and fauna that are as delicate and sweet as any flower, but are shaped from metal and mesh and copper wire.
This immersive exhibition looks at our realities and issues, crocheting, weaving, binding, shaping, and forming the new from the old; envisioning the interconnectedness of human beings, our planet, and social constructs that divide and unite us, sometimes paradoxically at the same time.
It is gorgeous art; it is also meaningful, looking at both who we are as a species and what we might be, and what our world may become. Can we shape it more gracefully and wonderfully, as these artists have done?
Dream-like and elegant, this is an exhibition that thrills with its creativity and understated beauty. Using unique materials, both artists shape classically brilliant work that resonates visually and emotionally.
Exhibition runs through March 2nd, so be sure to step inside the terrific web of unique sculptural forms these artists wove.