Madison-based artist Ariel Wood presents recent sulptural work and video art in the exhibition It flows in curves, which re-examines concepts of solitude and loss. Wood's work is on view at ALL from July 7 to July 28, 2018. Ariel Wood and Ahree Lee, who features in a concurrent solo show, will present artist talks from 6-7pm on Satruday, July 7, followed by an opening reception. The exhibition, artist talks, and reception are free and open to the public.
Exhibition Statement
The work of Ariel Wood questions the prescribed duality of solitude and companionship by delving into complex emotional and psychological underpinnings around relational and self-centered definitions of comfort and intimacy. A cyclical narrative from solitude to togetherness, and back to solitude with the emotional baggage that is garnered in the process provide the drive for an examination of elaborate investigations of loss. The role of history and memory recognizes the fluidity of presence and absence and fosters the acceptance of the inevitability of loss and its resulting growth.
Wood’s work delves into the complexities of honesty, especially in relation to communication. Through the use of transparency as material, Wood’s work exposes the nuances behind the truths we tell ourselves and those we tell others. The poetics of sculptural form and painterly articulation generate a cross media conversation to provide myriad introspective moments meditating on how we relate to each other.
“In my old life people would straighten, the truth, but the river, flows in curves.”
-‘Spring Poem For the Sake of Breathing, Written After a Walk to Foster Island’ By James Masao Mitsui
This exhibition is supported in part by a grant from Dane Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.