Erin Cunningham and Sarah Hirneisen: Navigational Instruments
August 22 - September 19,2020
A two person exhibition featuring work by Erin Cunningham and Sarah Hirneisen. From ICOSA:
Opening Reception: Saturday August 22, 2020 12pm to 6pm
* We will be hosting an extended and socially distanced opening. Masks are required and reservations will be available for a one hour time slot. Please arrive anytime during your slot but be aware that we will not allow more than 4 guests in at one time.
Please RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/yydo9cf6
In “Navigational Instruments”, Erin Cunningham and Sarah Hirneisen search for solutions in an environment at risk. They replicate and recontextualize everyday objects used to alert and protect the public from unseen danger, such as respirators, traffic cones, safety fencing, and carbon monoxide detectors. In addition to items used to indicate hidden dangers, mystical tools such as divining rods tell stories of where water or other resources can be found beyond the human eye. Their constructions have been reimagined as rudimentary instruments to navigate the unknown and guide us towards solutions. Natural elements burst through these man-made replicas optimistically reaching toward a better future.
Erin Cunningham (b. 1979 Honolulu, HI) is an artist living and working in Austin, Texas. She received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003 and an MFA in studio art from The University of Texas at Austin in 2007. With a focus in sculpture, her work utilizes material combinations, such as cast metals, and the female figure to explore dualities of masculine and feminine, disposable and precious, fragility and strength. She has shown both nationally and internationally, including The Metropolitan Art Museum in Tokyo and at Mönchskirche Salzwedel, in Salzwedel, Germany. She has been the recipient of several residencies including BAER Art Center in Hofsos, Iceland as well as Atelierhaus Residency Hilmsen in Hilmsen, Germany. She currently holds a position as an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin.
Sarah Hirneisen (b. 1978 Reading, PA) is an Austin based artist working with three-dimensional materials and processes. She received a BFA in glass from Rhode Island School of Design in 2001 and an MFA in sculpture from Mills College in 2011. She has participated in residencies at Free Oakland UP and the Hungarian Multicultural Center and has been awarded a Community Initiatives grant from the City of Austin, an Individual Artist Grant through the City of Oakland and a Phelan, Murphy & Cadogan fellowship from the San Francisco Foundation. She currently teaches sculpture at Texas State in San Marcos and has taught at Mills College, Cabrillo College, and City College of San Francisco. She has exhibited her work extensively throughout the US as well as Hungary, Korea and England.
Opening: August 22, 2020 | 12-6 pm
Socially-distanced opening reception. Masks and RSVP required.
ICOSA Collective
916 Springdale Rd, Bldg 2, #10
Austin, Texas 78702
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