GROUND RULES

MATTHEW KING
HEATHER MCPHERSON
ROSS NORMANDIN
CHARLIE SMITH

CURATED BY COREY OBERLANDER AND LINDSEY STAPLETON

SUGAR GALLERY
1 E. CENTER STREET, FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS

JANUARY 22ND - FEBRUARY 21ST
RECEPTION: JANUARY 22ND, 6-8 PM
 

Curators Corey Oberlander and Lindsey Stapleton present a collection of work by artists working within a set of self-defined boundaries; working within, around and between these drawn lines. Focusing on their practice and process, GROUND RULES will exemplify the variation and deviation that can exist within these parameters.

Painter-cum-sculptor Matthew King discovers great variation within his restricted toolkit. Working with limited palette and composition, King references the minimalist powerhouses of the 60's and 70's while letting the hand of the artist remain a consistent variable throughout each collection. In the smaller works, King employs nostalgic imagery, repeating shape and color patterns that move the viewer through the series effortlessly. The large works exude a sense of time - the conceptual and physical labor not-hidden behind seamless lines or smooth surfaces.   

Using labor as a medium in its own right, Charlie Smith saws, drills, paints and jams raw materials into place. Through repetitive common actions of 'building'. Smith applies labor to form to labor to form, changing the identity of his original object and making it something new. The new "thing" becomes the piece, wherein the qualities of the paint and wood and concrete and labor and paper are blended together to become a tangible manifestation of this process. These created personalities are stubborn, humorously self-deprecating and complicated; expressive in their simplicity. 

Heather Leigh McPherson has invested much of her time in exploring expression. Her latest body of work deals with painting, digital expression, and contemporary models of subjectivity. Despite a cross disciplinary approach, McPherson's process embodies a concise grouping of traits across pieces. Her palette, mark-making and compositions remain consistent. She employs the same face over and over, exploring multifaceted expressions compounded by flurries of activity in paint and Photoshop. These painterly marks allow for not only variation within her approach, but also within the emotions and expression of her composition. Movement, occasionally literal, keeps the viewer discovering nuance and intent when looking at these similar compositions.  

Ross Normandin is, on some level, making the same piece over and over. For his series titled Wins, Crashes, Normandin is focused on the process of making instead of the final results. Attempting to remove the possibility of a "favorite," Normandin's paintings each hold the same material, composition and process. However, subtleties prevail and Normandin forces particular character into his limited materials and compositions. 

Bonded by a process-based practice, these artists each work with a particular form, action, or material that resonates. They are each working to grow within those limitations, while simultaneously staying on their course.