POV | Point of View | 2023 Summer Exhibition

Alicia Kelly | Becky Hyberger | Candace Hicks | Mandy Bernard

Alicia Kelly | Becky Hyberger | Candace Hicks | Mandy Bernard May 24 - September 3, 2023 Curated by Christine Olejniczak

POV: Surveillance and Sousveillance Christine Olejniczak

People’s images are captured on security cameras approximately 70 times a day - 25,550 times a year. We have become comfortable noting cameras at intersections, mounted on lights in parking lots, playing our image back to us in real time as we stand in line at convenience stores and gas stations. We’ve become so comfortable with the presence of the camera that we surveil ourselves. 93 million selfies are taken each day - that works out to 34 billion images a year. Sousveillance is a point of view we understand.

The title of the show - Point of View - is a cinematic term now ubiquitous in social media. With so much sousveillance, contemporary smart phone users are aware of how they look from the outside. We watch ourselves and consider what others see. Scenes are set. Backdrops are designed.

Stories are implied. Even when a camera isn’t obvious, we are aware of the POV of someone looking at us. We are voyeurs to other people’s lives on social media and we participate as performers in the movie of our lives as shared in a communal digital world.

Mandy Bernard, Candace Hicks, Becky Hyberger and Alicia Kelly have created an environment at the Salina Art Center that collages a story suggesting that we are all involved in decoding truths, lies and illusions.

All of the artists ask us to come closer, take a peek, step inside, press our eye against the peephole and look around. Viewers are discouraged from being passive.

Walking through the exhibit, we experience a change in scale as we move throughout the three spaces. Entering the first gallery, Alicia Kelly’s installation The Passing incorporates the skylight as light source and framework for a suspended cut paper piece that drapes from floor to ceiling. The piece creates an architectural space within the gallery. As we walk through The Passing, patterns of shadows pass over our body and absorb us into the piece. We are part of it. Our body moves through the installation and changes the shapes of the shadows. The cut paper projects patterns on our faces and hands - we move and they follow.

We are cast in a net of shadows. We become aware of how we must look and stop to take our picture. We look over at our friends and take their picture too.

On the back wall behind The Passing, Kelly reminds us, “Don’t Forget to Call Home”. The words appear in shadow - like light flittering through the leaves of trees, spelling out a message in a magic forest. The text appears high on the wall, we look up to read it and we are reminded how small we are in a fabricated space we couldn’t have imagined just minutes earlier.

We are not alone. Four mannequins are stationed in the space displaying collaborative wearable sculptures produced in a mail exchange by Alicia Kelly - Lawrence, Kansas and Mandy Bernard Homer, Alaska. Historically, Bernard’s work has involved manipulated textiles and hand-tufted fiber sculptures. She shares a material process with Kelly that is process heavy, repetitive and uses rhythmic patterning to articulate sculptural forms. Separated by three time-zones, this collaboration began as an intuitive creative exchange, a “call and response” experiment. Bernard providing the textile elements and Kelly with cut paper accessories. The work was documented at the peak of each of the four seasons placing the wearable sculptures in natural light. The mannequins are draped, wrapped and framed with the same materials and patterns as the environment they exist in. The figures are of this place and contribute to the installation of projected patterns throughout the space.

Anne Waldman, poet, activist and co-founder of the Naropa Institute wrote this text published online for the Prague Writers Festival in February 2009 where she addresses sousveillance from a Buddhist perspective: There’s also the interesting activist/artist movement called ‘sousveillance.’ Besides having inherent meaning and value, sousveillance is an example (for me) of what I would call a social movement with ‘spiritual architecture’ – meaning (in this case) that it emphasizes awareness, being mindful, recording the moment, being both participant and observer at the same time.

Mandy Bernard’s performance work has turned the camera on herself.

Her video piece Liminality, observes the artist’s feet walking on eggshells scattered across tufted chenille and wool yarn on a raised wooden platform. The piece is mounted low to the ground. The images appear nearly life sized. Walking on eggshells through a liminal space of light and shadows.

Inspired by conspiracy theories and government secrets, Candace Hicks presents Cloud Storage in the adjoining gallery space. The scale shifts from large to small as we are presented with a 65-foot pixelated mural of cumulus clouds comprised of over 5,000 round mirrors. Hidden among the mirrors are a handful of security peepholes that give access to hidden rooms where a cumulus cloud is the main character at the center of an inept plot of surveillance, cover-up, and violence. We are now part of the surveillance team. As we lean in to find the peepholes and discover more clues, we notice how our reflection is broken up into dots from the mural. We stop and take our picture. The surveillance team has been documented. POV has switched again.

When asked about the title of the installation Hicks references Mark Miodownik’s Liquid Rules. In her own words: Why do we see clouds as white (sometimes fluffy) objects? Composed of billions of tiny droplets of water, we see the reflected many pinpricks of light that bounce back to us, but because our brain is used to interpreting light and shadow as objects, we see objects floating in the sky. Even as another part of our brain tells us that a cloud is made up of water droplets, it’s very hard to see that.

The installation encourages and incentivizes us to work together to fully explore the enigmas within. Cloud Storage focuses on optical phenomena that can only be experienced first-hand. A cloud is the protagonist and star of the installation as a stand-in for UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena), the preferred nomenclature that has replaced UFO. The cloud is the subject of scrutiny in a world where conspiracy theories abound, and we are made ever more aware of the gaps in our understanding.

A stop action animated film of a crop circles forming is projected on another wall in the space - photographic “proof” of their creation. We have all seen the aerial photos of the pictograms but no one has ever seen them in the making. There is a desire to figure it out and at the same time we can’t help but root for the underdog and wish that just once we could catch an alien stamping out a crop circle to prove what thousands of viewers of the History Channel already take for fact - the aliens are here. We want to believe the fantastic and we want proof. But some proof and blind faith goes a long way in upping reverence for the extraordinary.

Hicks is also exhibiting embroidered pages and books from her Common Threads series. She has been working with literary coincidences for the past 18 years and produces 8-page embroidered books styled after composition notebooks. In a world of interconnectedness, a word or phrase in one book shows up in a newscast, the words are heard again in a song that repeats the phrasing. Hicks tracks disparate sources that reference the same images - some literally - some metaphorically. New work is being presented as part of the Cloud Storage installation.

Becky Hyberger uses dream imagery and symbolism in a series of scaled miniature constructions. Maintaining a studio practice that involves dream journaling, Hyberger has amassed a large visual vocabulary of images that originated in her subconscious. She is drawn to small, intimate spaces that often reference the home. Carl Jung refers to the symbol of the home as “both a map of our collective evolution and a description of the individual psyche.” The house is the self. The spaces that capture Hyberger’s attention are the corner of a basement, a drawer under water, a closet - all aspects of the subconscious. Doors

are openings into the unknown; a suitcase contains unremembered thoughts, dreams and memories; a bird is a spirit, and a bed represents the passage of time.

Hyberger’s installation space is personal. Dream Fragments are installed on plexiglass shelves along the walls. They wrap around the space creating architecturally scaled domestic tableaus. Each vignette is metaphorically dense and never tells the whole story. Richard Kearney wrote the introduction to The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard in 2014 and states “Because ‘the poetic act has no past,’ we must be fully attentive to the image at the very moment it appears. . . .“ Attention is key. Hyberger is vigilant in her quest for capturing transformational moments and realizing those ethereal images as sculptural objects. The miniatures evoke a time past. They reference a childhood seen through the lens of an adult. As viewers we feel this shift and are aware of how large we are in relation to the beds, chairs, and suitcases on display. We are not a participant in this story - we are an observer - a witness. We are being shown a history of past events that has a truth to them. The care and details are proof of the veracity of the story.

We emerge from the gallery with new experiences. We looked and we were looked at. We were part of a surveillance team and we were also aware that we took pictures and contributed data to our own sousveillance. We were perpetually working to make sense of our surroundings. We wonder how we will tell the story of this exhibition to others. How do we make sense of objects we see with our own eyes?

What about dreams? What are we trying to tell ourselves? There are strategies for understanding the world. We live in both digital and IRL. Once enough information is collected the data can be stitched together to have a beginning, a middle and an end and a story is put in place.

The higher the adrenaline, the sharper and more detailed the memory.

A bit of unease shapes the focus. Meaning can be attached to the story.

Lessons can be learned. Myths made. Evidence can be assessed, and truths can be determined. All of us are trying to figure it out.

Alicia Kelly | The Passing | 2023 | Cut Tyvek | 14 x 18 x 13 feet

THE ARTISTS

Candace Hicks | Cloud Storage | 2023 Mirrors and peepholes to alternate universes | 6x40 feet

CANDICE HICKS

Candace Hicks’ work examines gender, voice, and parallel universes through the analysis of fictional literature. Believing that the stories we tell each other can reveal our beliefs and biases, Hicks mines genre fictions to uncover the subtle ways that literature reflects inequalities. She has exhibited her work and installations at Lawndale Art Center in Houston, Living Arts in Tulsa, Ivester Contemporary and Women & Their Work in Austin, The Contemporary at Blue Star in San Antonio, and beyond. Her artist’s books are in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Bainbridge Museum, the Spencer Museum of Art, and universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford.

ALICIA KELLY

Alicia Kelly was born and raised among the red dirt and wildflowers of Northeastern Oklahoma. Her love of the paper medium developed alongside her love of pattern making and serigraphy. With evolving plans of each cut and fold, her papercut works become a collaboration of focus, meditation and design.

Photographer: Megan Karson

Alicia has exhibited nationally and internationally- her most recent exhibitions include: Weinberger Fine Art Gallery (KS), Bunnell Street Arts Center (AK) and OpenBox, Porto, Portugal. Alicia is an active member of The Paper Artist Collective and Guild of American Papercutters since 2017. Alicia is a paper arts and serigraphy instructor at The Lawrence Arts Center and she currently works out of her home studio in Lawrence, Kansas.

BECKY HYBERGER

For over 40 years, Becky Hyberger, has exhibited her miniature constructions at art centers and galleries throughout Kansas including Birger Sandzen (Lindsborg), McPherson College, Emporia Arts Center, Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina Art Center, Lincoln Art Center, Hays Arts Council, Strecker-Nelson (Manhattan), and CityArts (Wichita). She was a featured artist on Kansas Arts Today (KPTS PBS) and her work has been highlighted numerous times in the Salina Journal. She has participated at art festivals such as Brookside Art Annual in Kansas City, Mo., Mulvane Art Festival in Topeka and the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina. A degree in Psychology and a deep interest in the creative process inform her work.

MANDY BERNARD

Mandy Bernard is an interdisciplinary artist from Homer, Alaska, working with textiles, printmaking, and performance to navigate themes of personal dissonance and the relation between social identity and sense of reality. She has exhibited and performed in both Alaska and Sweden, and has held residencies in Cleveland, Alaska, Kansas, and Sweden. Mandy holds a minor degree in Fine Art from Roanoke College, Virginia, and a master’s degree in Urban Planning from Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg.

THE CURATOR

Christine Olejniczak is an artist, curator, experimental musician, composer, actor and writer. She received her BFA at the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been performing the sound of drawing on instruments of her own making since 1994. Her work has been exhibited internationally and pressed to vinyl as a part of the Audible Picture Show. Poet CA Conrad has created somatic rituals from her compositions. She was cast as Mother Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film There Will Be Blood. She is currently working with an improvisational group of experimental composers and musicians on a project called the Amorphous Collective. She makes her home in Lawrence, KS.

THE ART

Becky Hyberger | The Journey | 2022 | Mixed Media Construction

CANDACE HICKS BORN 1980, ATHENS, TEXAS Cloud Storage, 2023 Mirrors and peepholes to alternate universes 6 x 40 feet Cloud Seeding, 2023 Model grass, wood 40 x 13 x 13 inches The Interrogation of Infinite Space, 2023 Lamp, wood, two-way mirror 50 x 19 x 15 inches Fields, 2023 Stop motion video in bathmats 6 minutes 35 seconds Notes for String Theory, 2023 Embroidery on canvas 10.5 x 8 x 1 inches Common Threads Volume 144, 2023 Embroidery on canvas (artist book) 6 x 9 x 1 inches Common Threads Volume 121, 2023 Embroidery on canvas (artist book) 6 x 9 x 1 inches Common Threads Volume 106, 2023 Embroidery on canvas (artist book) 6 x 9 x 1 inches Common Threads Volume 141, 2023 Embroidery on canvas (artist book) 6 x 9 x 1 inches

BECKY HYBERGER BORN 1947, VALLEY CITY, NORTH DAKOTA The Black Box, 1999 Mixed Media Construction 11 x 14 x 12 ½ inches

21.09.18: The Blackbird’s Territory, 2022 Mixed Media Construction 6 x 9 x 6 inches

Infestation, 1999, revised 2023 Mixed Media Construction 48 x 27 x 3 inches

04.08.31: Dancing with the Fish, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 7 ¾ x 4 x 4 inches

The Pantry, 2020 Mixed Media Construction 18 ¼ x 11 ¼ x 14 ¼ inches

91.11.21: Embedded Door, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 4 x 7 x 5 inches

Changing Peas to Pearls, 2022 Mixed Media Construction 20 x 10 x 10 inches 24 x 12 x 12 inches (Display Case)

54.08.10, 88.10.08: The Creative Process, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 10 ½ x 4 x 3 inches

The Journey, 2022 Mixed Media Construction 12 ¾ x 10 x 7 inches 16 x 14 x 14 inches (Display Case)

92.10.17: Sleeping with the Whale, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 6 x 6 x 2 inches

The Sanctuary, 2012 Mixed Media Construction 12 x 12 ½ x 16 inches Overlapping Boundary, 2016 Mixed Media Construction 10 ½ x 12 ½ x 20 inches Super Processor, 2016 Mixed Media Construction 13 ½ x 9 x 9 inches

00.06.03: Falling Chandelier, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 2 ¾ x 7 ¼ x 7 ¼ inches 03.07.22: Beach Front Drive, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 8 ¾ x 7 x 3 inches 18.02.25: Phantom Self, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 10 ½ x 6 ¾ x 5 ½ inches

Defining Threshold, 2020 Mixed Media Construction 12 x 14 x 13 inches

09.05.12, 09.11.16, 08.03.10: Assorted Travels, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 6 ¼ x 10 x 4 inches

Pillow Case, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 9 ½ x 21 x 21 inches

99.05.05: It takes a Lifetime, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 7 x 5 x 8 inches

99.04.09: Open Moment, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 9 ½ x 6 ¼ x 3 inches 10.08.19: The Struggle to Begin, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 8 ½ x 9 x 2 inches 10.11.13: Undesirable Facility, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 6 ¼ x 5 x 5 inches 19.09.30: Fresh Morning, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 9 x 7 x 5 inches 99.01.20: Overdue Rent, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 9 ½ x 8 x 6 inches 02.01.15: Shopping for Purses at the Discount Store, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 5 x 10 x 5 inches 04.08.28: Returning to Before, 2023 Mixed Media Construction 8 ½ x 7 x 7 inches

ALICIA KELLY & MANDY BERNARD BORN 1986, SAPULPA, OKLAHOMA HOMER, ALASKA Alicia Kelly The Passing, 2023 Cut Tyvek 14 x 18 x 13 feet Alicia Kelly Don’t Forget to Call Home, 2023 Cut Tyvek, steel Dimensions Variable Mandy Bernard, Alicia Kelly Winter / Alaska, 2021 Velvet, polyester, brass hardware, wool and acrylic yarn, cut Tyvek, wire Dimensions Variable Photographer: Joshua Veldstra Mandy Bernard, Alicia Kelly Spring / Kansas, 2021 Polyester/cotton blend, pvc tube, newspaper, cut Tyvek, wire Dimensions Variable Photographer: Ann Dean Mandy Bernard, Alicia Kelly Summer / Alaska, 2022 Handprinted cotton canvas, brass hardware, cut Tyvek, acrylic, wire Dimensions Variable Photographer: Joshua Veldstra Mandy Bernard, Alicia Kelly Fall / Kansas, 2022 Tufted wool and acrylic yarn, cut Tyvek, acrylic, wire Dimensions Variable Photographer: Ann Dean Mandy Bernard Liminality Tufted chenille and wool yarn with eggshells on raised wooden platform.

47.75 x 24 x 7.25 inches The performance was filmed and edited by Bjorn Olson in June of 2022.

The final iteration of this piece hangs vertically on the wall and while the performance plays on repeat through an iPad embedded into the chenille.

PROGRAMMING May 25 | Opening Reception 5-7 PM at Salina Art Center FREE June 17 | Writing with Art: Dreaming Yourself 10-11:30 AM at Salina Art Center with Lori Brack Workshop for middle & high school students and adults | $45 June 21 | Art Byte 12:15-12:45 PM at Salina Art Center with Darren Morawitz FREE June 24 | The Saturday Morning Art Critic 10 AM - Noon at Salina Art Center with Emily Christensen and Lori Brack Workshop | $75 July 15 | Writing with Art: Patterns in Poetry 10-11:30 AM, Gallery Writing with Art: Patterns in Poetry with Lori Brack Adult Workshop | $45 July 19 | Art Byte 12:15-12:45 PM at Salina Art Center with Darren Morawitz FREE August 12 | Writing with Art: Tiny Poems 10-11:30 AM at Salina Art Center with Lori Brack Workshop for middle & high school students and adults | $45 August 16 | Art Byte 12:15-12:45 PM at Salina Art Center with Darren Morawitz FREE

Catalog published by Salina Art Center to accompany the exhibition , POV | Point Of View.

Featured Artists: Candace Hicks, Mandy Bernard, Alicia Kelly, and Becky Hyberger Curated by Christine Olejniczak Salina Art Center 242 S Santa Fe Ave Salina, Kansas 67401 May 24 - September 3, 2023 Essay by Christine Olejniczak Design by Hannah Crickman Photos courtesy of the artists, Hannah Crickman, Joshua Veldstra, Ann Dean, and Megan Karson Installation by Daniel Picking, Darren Morawitz, Christine Olejniczak, Candace Hicks, David Lebaillif, Alicia Kelly, and Becky Hyberger

Creating exchanges among art, artists, and audiences Founded in 1978, the Salina Art Center is a 501(c)3 art museum and education center. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the museum galleries, Cinema, and Education Warehouse are in beautiful downtown Salina, KS. Salina Art Center museum admission is always free to everyone.

Members, donors, business partners, foundations, the Salina Art Center Endowment Foundation, and the City of Salina provide critical funding for exceptional experiences around viewing, discussing, and making art.

POV | Point of View is funded by the Salina Art Center Endowment Foundation. Grant support is provided by the Horizons Grants Program of the Salina Arts and Humanities Foundation (funding is provided by Horizons, a private donor group).

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