BCA Fall 2020 Exhibitions: Clay Mohrman: Radiant Thought

GALLERY GUID E Clay Mohrman, Radiant Thought, BCA Center installation view, 2020

OVERVIEW

Clay Mohrman, Radiant Thought (detail), 2020

In Radiant Thought, Vermont artist Clay Mohrman creates an immersive light and sound installation centering on his personal response to emotional processing and managing anxiety. Comprised of plexiglass and lights, and programmed to mimic the neurochemical reactions of the brain, the sculpture responds to a meditative, ambient audioscape. Mohrman’s 8-foot sculpture is suspended from the center of the gallery and envelopes the viewer in a captivating exploration of meditation and its ability to evoke relaxation, calm, and mindfulness.

Working with collaborators Brittany Mae on audio and George Philbrick on interactive technology, Mohrman draws upon his experience as a designer and maker to create an installation imbued with purpose. Viewers experience a transformative process inspired by Mohrman’s relationship with mental wellbeing and his desire to promote the therapeutic benefits of art in public spaces.

Clay Mohrman (b. 1990, Boston, MA) is a lighting artist, designer, and entrepreneur from Boston, Massachusetts. Mohrman brings together the divergent disciplines of commercial design, lighting, and fine art to create his dynamic sculptures and public installations. His recent artistic explorations reflect the internal experience of emotional processing while drawing the viewer’s attention to the present moment. Mohrman holds a BA in Product Design from Central Saint Martins, London, England. He has exhibited his work extensively in Vermont including venues such as Spruce Peak Lodge, Waking Windows, Casting Coalescence, Hotel Vermont, and Karma Birdhouse. In 2017 Mohrman founded his company, Clay Mohr Lighting, and in 2018 he participated in Jump/Start, a business accelerator program developed by Generator, Burlington in collaboration with LaunchVT. Mohrman currently resides in Burlington, Vermont.

COLLABORATORS Brittany Mae (b. 1989, Syracuse, NY) is an artist, musician, and screenprinter residing in Burlington, Vermont. Her work draws from reflections on the collective human experience and the emotional responses of our psyche to our interpersonal relationships – romantic love, family, the relationship with our own body and mind. Largely drawing upon her own life experiences, she aims to tap deep into her own vulnerabilities, fears, and pain in an attempt to connect us through these shared emotions we often keep hidden. Brittany Mae explores and shares through her musical persona, ivamae, as well as through collaborations with other artists in her community.

George Philbrick (b. 1998, Dover, NH) is a student at the University of Vermont studying Electrical Engineering. He is fascinated with the intersection of technology and art and in particular music visualization. He is in the process of founding a startup focused on bringing music reactive lighting to the homes of everyone. He is a member of the Illumination Collective and has built music reactive lighting installations at Burlington’s Highlight events in 2018 and 2019, the 2018 and 2019 Champlain Valley Maker Faire, and at 2019 Waking Windows.

Clay Mohrman: Radiant Thought is part of BCA’s ongoing series, Project Vermont, dedicated to experimentation by providing a setting for contemporary Vermont artists to push their practice while creating new work. Radiant Thought is presented as part of 2020 Vision: Reflecting on a World-Changing Year, a statewide exhibition initiative of the Vermont Curators Group. Clay Mohrman: Radiant Thought is commissioned in part by BCA Center.

Burlington City Arts is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act from the National Endowment for the Arts..

2020 EXHIBITION YEAR PRESENTED BY

BCA Exhibitions are funded in part by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Vermont Arts Council.

BURLINGTON CITY ARTS 135 CHURCH STREET, BURLINGTON, VERMONT, 05401 BURLINGTONCITYARTS.ORG