Lori Gordon

Curatorial
Hush Hush

Hush Hush offers works created with a secret in mind. While each artist has created something that contemplates this idea of discretion and concealment, both the approach and outcome are quite different. At a time when information is often unauthorized or undisclosed without privileged access, these artists are bravely divulging their own aspirations and apprehensions without restraint. Jamie Vasta presents her 'secret work', which she rarely shows to people. These drawings explore devices that have always caused anxiety, such as patterns, swimming, fear and desire, as she attempts to render them delicate and insubstantial, beautiful and harmless. Through exploration of emotional consciousness Virginia Kleker's performance demonstrates the force inflicted on helium filled balloons as a metaphor for pressure induced on the psyche from holding onto secrets. Ashley Neese takes this one step further by looking at her concerns of regret, creating an audio piece with specific lists of her fears, wishes, apologies, and thoughts surrounding her relationships with her family, to be read out loud. In a more playful way Ben Guttin and Susan O'Malley keep something hidden from others, only to be revealed through the work itself. Susan O'Malley's video captures her performing small acts which point to the absurdity, isolation and conformity that exists in the front yards of her neighborhood in San Jose, while Ben Guttin's video shows him dancing before the camera alone in his New York studio, transforming his inward gaze into endless self-invention. Whether these secrets are known or shared only by the artists is immaterial, as these works create a residue that will certainly answer some questions if not divulge the mystery altogether.