Accumulation Sarah Hearn March 2 - May 26, 2018 Opie Gallery LEEDY-VOULKOS ART CENTER
Leedy-Voulkos Art Center 2012 Baltimore Ave. KC MO 64108 www.leedy-voulkos.com 816-474-1919
Artist Statement- Accumulation “I am an interdisciplinary visual artist researching how humans can collaborate with, understand and learn from nature. My creative practice is strongly rooted in photography, drawing, site-specific installation and participatory culture. As a citizen researcher I incorporate components of the scientific method into my process. Through earnest investigations of biological life and natural phenomena, I make work that reveals shifting boundaries between science, pseudoscience and science fiction.” ~ Sarah Hearn Accumulation For centuries people have struggled to accurately forecast the weather. In modern societies, many individuals appear to be detached from the weather, yet our dependence on it is obvious when we consider severe storms, extreme temperatures, drought and other natural disasters. Over a period of 44 months and 26 days, I photographed different cloud types occurring in the atmosphere. These photos were taken daily, sometimes multiple times a day. This time-based study of the clouds was a way of investigating my personal relationship with the weather while grounding me in the present conditions of each photograph taken. Pausing to observe the sky and document it became a daily ritual. Of the thousands of photographs some are easily identifiable as specific cloud types found in weather field guides, yet many others represent skies in various states of change. The impermanent states of the clouds are what became most fascinating to me over time. After all, the weather is always shifting, culminating, disappearing—changing. Over the next 12 months and 5 days I grouped, identified and edited the images. From this mass of accumulated photographs, I distilled it down to 27 representations of the most common cloud types that occur in the sky. I selected one image of each specific cloud type and transferred it into a wet plaster medium onto the shape of its corresponding international weather symbol. The act of transferring the images imbues each fresco surface with subtle variations making each object, like clouds- entirely unique. The international weather symbols are used worldwide by maritime travelers and pilots navigating the sea and sky, but their use is limited due to the sky’s constant states of flux. The power held in the meaning of these symbols is transient and fleeting. Ultimately, this work indexes the unpredictable forces that dramatically affect all life on earth and invites you to take a closer look at the sky above. Biography Sarah Hearn is a visual artist and citizen researcher. Her artwork, rooted in drawing, photography, installation and participatory culture explores the shifting boundaries of science and science fiction. Sarah has exhibited in galleries and art spaces across the United States and has contributed to international collaborations in Brooklyn, Berlin and Reading, UK. Hearn’s project Invisible Landscapes was subject of a 2016 solo exhibition at the University of Notre Dame. Formerly she was a Charlotte Street Foundation studio resident and a visiting artist at Cow House Studios in County Wexford, Ireland. Her artwork represented the United States in the World Creativity Biennial of 2010. In 2015 her city-wide project Urban Colonization engaged audiences to hunt for artificial lichen colonies hidden throughout Kansas City. Sarah is Program Manager at Artist INC. She served as Artist INC facilitator for Kansas City and a Liaison for Austin and OKC. Sarah was also a Co-Director of PLUG Projects, a Kansas City based curatorial collaborative dedicated to contemporary artists. She earned a BFA from the College of Santa Fe, and a MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology.
March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Altostratus (thick) digital fresco, 2017, 21” x 14” $400
Leedy-Voulkos Art Center
March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Stratofractus -triptych digital fresco, 2016, 3.75” x 6”, 3.75” x 7.5” & 3.75” x 6” $350
Leedy-Voulkos Art Center
March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Leedy-Voulkos Art Center
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Cirrus (invading sky) digital fresco, 2016, 21” x 7.25” $350
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cirrostratus (below 45º) digital fresco, 2016, 15.5” x 7” $300
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cumulus (moderate) digital fresco, 2016, 18” x 24” $400
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Altocumulus (semi-transparent) digital fresco, 2016, 16� x 5� $300
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cumulus (moderate) digital fresco, 2016, 14.5” x 17” $400
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cirrus digital fresco, 2016, 21” x 7.25” $350
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Contained Ecology Mixed media collage, 2017, 12” x 10” $600
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Altocumulus (chaotic sky) –diptych digital fresco, 2016, 16” x 14.75” & 20.5” x 11” $600
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Altocumulus (from cumulus)- diptych digital fresco, 2016, 15.75” x 6” & 14” x 6” $600
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
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Cirrostratus (below 45º) digital fresco, 2016, 15.5” x 7” $300
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Stratocumulus and Cumulus (at different heights) - diptych digital fresco, 2016, 17” x 9.5” & 23” x 7” $600
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cirrostratus (above 45º- not overcast) digital fresco, 2016, 18” x 13” $350
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cirrus (dense) digital fresco, 2016, 21” x 7.25” $350
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Stratocumulus (from Cumulus) digital fresco, 2016, 23” x 13.5” $400
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Stratocumulus (not from Cumulus) digital fresco, 2016, 17� x 9.5� $300
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cirrocumulus digital fresco, 2016, 17” x 16” $400
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cirrostratus (veil covering sky) digital fresco, 2016, 20� x 7.25� $350
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Fractostratus digital fresco, 2016, 18.5” x 3.75” $300
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Altocumulus (semi-transparent) digital fresco, 2016, 16� x 5� $300
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Altostratus digital fresco, 2016, 17.25” x 14” $400
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cumulonimbus digital fresco, 2017, 18” x 24” $400
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Cirrus (dense, from Cumulonimbus) digital fresco, 2016, 21� x 7.25� $350
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March 2 - May 26, 30 2018
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Accumulation | Sarah Hearn
Altocumulus (bands and thickening) digital fresco, 2016, 16� x 14.75� $400
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