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reviews
Emma Balder, Installation view, 2022,
Mia Sandhu, Bawdy 7, 2022, gouache, watercolor, pencil and charcoal on paper, 11x14 in.
EMMA BALDER
MIA SANDHU
FOLTZ FINE ART
JONATHAN HOPSON GALLERY
Last summer Foltz Fine Art presented Emma Balder: Beyond the Surface, funded in part by Houston Arts Alliance. Beyond the Surface is an exhibition which considers the subliminal meaning behind every-day soft materials. With textiles’ proximity and necessity in daily life, relationships to this material provide key insights about humanity. How we treat textiles is indicative of the way we treat other humans, even ourselves. What do these relationships reveal? What truths are textiles masking underneath? Does the everyday exchange with textiles reflect the depth of connection between human beings? The exhibition displayed a community-made installation surrounded by a collection of works by Emma Balder. The installation, suspended from the gallery’s center, resembled a tent-like structure which viewers may walk through. Its inner layer holds meaningful textiles, donated and sewn into the work by local Houstonians. A book contains portraits of each participant, alongside stories about their personal textile chosen for the installation. Neighboring gallery walls held sculptural paintings and fiber paintings made by the artist over her 8 years working in these processes. Created using textile waste from artists and designers from around the world, these supporting works forge new tales for material which was once left idle and forgotten. Allowing abstraction to be a voice for textured stories, the project examined what lies Beyond the Surface of everyday textiles. Demonstrating intention and care for the textiles in our lives, Beyond the Surface uncover a deeper appreciation for the threads which connect us all.
As the second-generation daughter of mixed Punjabi SikhCanadian heritage, Sandhu’s cultural and personal identity is composed of diverse narratives. These narratives play out in her current body of work that explores woman’s arduous search for self-love and the accompanying strength of spirit that this personal journey necessitates. Employing an intricate aesthetic that layers the female figure, foliage, East Indian motifs and the nostalgic pallet of 1970’s and 1980’s home decor, Sandhu’s work examines the conflicting feelings of shame, self-acceptance, and sexuality; aspiring to seek out self-authenticity in current cultural, political and emotional contexts. Although informed by her previous body of work which focused on ethnic identity in an alien culture, Sandhu’s current work draws from experiences that are both deeply personal to her and are also shared by women more broadly- attempting to portray inner conflicts seemingly intrinsic to womanhood regardless of ethnicity or heritage. Sandhu is a multi-disciplinary artist currently residing in Toronto, Canada. Her paper and gouache/watercolour based works explore her fascination with cultural hybridity, gender and sexuality alongside familial and personal narratives. Sandhu’s work has exhibited across Canada, Europe and the USA. Her work is part of Above the Fold, an exhibition of new work also featuring the art of Jennifer Ling Datchuk. On view until December 4, 2022.