CONTROL SPACE | A Work In Progress Emily Sall’s solo exhibition 01.14.22 / 02.26.22
Studios Inc Studios Inc provides studio space, professional development, networking, and exhibitions for mid-career artists in Greater Kansas City. We engage the Kansas City community through our Exhibition Series Program, which exhibits resident artist works throughout the year, free to the public Launched in 2003 to serve mid-career artists, Studios Inc is Kansas City’s nonprofit arts organization that offers pivotal three-year residencies to mid-career artists who are poised to significantly expand their careers in accordance with the career goals articulated in their residency application. Its competitive application process, sharp focus on career advancement, and commitment to serve the under-served population of mid-career artists set Studios Inc apart from other artist-support organizations. Studios Inc offers a unique immersion experience for resident artists, who use their studio and exhibition space to produce and exhibit work, network and learn from one another, and attract and cultivate relationships with art patrons, collectors, and arts professionals.
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DECONSTRUCTING SPACE & CONTROL Exploring the work of Emily Sall Written by Harold Smith
The term “painting” is far too narrow to define Emily Sall’s artwork. The works that she produces are vibrant and living constructions, like that of postmodern architecture, that explore, merge and unify paint and surfaces in lieu of steel, concrete, and iron. “The paintings have always been architecturally influenced. I am interested in creating; shifting, mounting, teetering landscapes of tension, balance, imbalance and harmonious visual relationships.” Emily Sall Her painterly constructions that filled the gallery in her solo exhibition, “Control Space - A work in Progress” at StudiosInc, resonated with simultaneously complementary and contradictory intersections of color, shape, and texture. From paint applied with precise meticulousness to the walls, works on wood, and assemblages consisting of pulled tape from the masking of the lines on all of the paintings, Sall achieved her goal of taking the viewer on an aesthetic odyssey of harmonious visual relationships.
"Figuration" Acrylic paint on wood panel 40"x40"
another.
“Figuration”, is a prime example of aesthetic duality present in the intersections of Sall’s work. At first glance, it is a uniform, balanced, intentional exploration of line, shape, and color. As a singular object, the artwork initially draws in the viewer but the interactions of its composing elements seem to almost take control of the eye. The series of linear patterns juxtaposed and intertwined with triangular shapes are organized in a way so they almost appear to come alive when the eye moves from one to
A sense of visual precariousness and danger is introduced through the use of texture, black, and white. In strategic places, Sall has left the grounding panel unpainted, displaying the grain. In other places, she has sanded down the paint to allow the grain to peek through. Black shapes seemingly provide portals to another world existing within the artwork while white shapes seemingly provide welcome intervals of negative space, solidifying balance within the image. The architectural influence upon Sall’s work likewise shines through in this work. The combinations of lines and shapes in varying levels of hue, lightness, and saturation are quite similar to postmodern architecture’s usage of exposed infrastructure and exoskeleton.
“The 2 large wall murals in the show were created to alter the space in the gallery in response to the paintings and objects, playing with scale and responding to the space and architecture. The entire show was meant to create an experience that pulled you into the work on several levels and sense of scale and to give the viewer an experience of the energy and dynamism of the work as a whole.” - Emily Sall
Untitled, Mural painted directly on the wall
Painted directly on the wall, using tape to achieve precision, this untitled work further expresses the influence of architecture upon Sall’s work. Similar in shape to a Mesoamerican pyramid, its aesthetic infrastructure is supported by a series of black triangles organized into a series of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal patterns that form larger triangles into a pattern of layers. Brightly colored triangles are integrated into the work, creating a type of chiaroscuro effect and sense of three dimensionality. In one sense, the work appears to present a pyramid composed of layers building upward. In another sense, the work appears to present a series of pyramids with the largest in the back and the smallest at the front. The intentional visual imbalance created by color placement is apparent but not chaotic. It forces the viewer to not spend too much time deconstructing the work to individual elements but rather to visually step back and behold it as a harmonious whole. The palette used, along with the placement of colors, has a somewhat soothing effect. At times, it feels like the colors are behind the pyramid shapes, illuminating it like the last vestiges of light during a late autumn sunset. It has a steely coolness that is calming. The intentionality of this exhibition should not be surprising. Emily Sall is a 2005 graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute (BFA, Painting). That same year, she was a studio resident at the Charlotte Street Foundation. Two years later, she was awarded the Charlotte Street Foundations Visual Artist Fellowship. In addition to exhibiting locally and nationally, she has commissioned artboards for the Missouri Bank. And, of course, she is a resident at Studios Inc in Kansas City, Missouri
This intentionality, born of education, experience, and skill, is also very evident in the assemblages present in this exhibition. In some works, Sall incorporates texture by displaying the grain inherent in wooden surfaces used, either by not applying paint or sanding away some paint. In an untitled work, she actually creates texture by creating shapes utilizing crumpled and intertwined vibrant colored painter's tape. Sall explains “They are products of the "process" discarded tape on the floor and intentional objects made from the tape pulled off the paintings”. Untitled, Painter’s Tape on Floor
While yellow, green, and blue are the dominant hues, magenta, gray, and others peek through. The result is a layered effect that is both invigorating and mysterious. These works are invigorating in the sense that they present the recurring notions of color, shape, and texture that narrate Sall’s work. At the same time, it is exciting to see these notions taken from the walls and vertical surfaces and reconstituted in such a non-traditional form. The colors that peek through present mystery. They invite us to imagine the layers and intersections of color and shape that are hidden from the eye. In a sense, these works present a narrative where some elements are made more significant by their absence. Returning to the influence of architecture upon the artist, they are reminiscent of the mysterious invisible and subterranean infrastructure upon which visible architecture is constructed. While some of the shapes are spherical, some are seemingly random…but only seemingly. This combination of recognizable and unrecognizable forms give this artwork an organic aesthetic. It looks and feels like a living artwork, as if some of the shapes and colors escaped the walls and wooden panels and made their way to the floor. The exhibition is rich with dazzling visual experiences. Emily Sall sees her work as landscapes of balance, juxtaposition, and contradiction, leading to visual coherence. In “Control Space - A work in Progress”, she presented these landscapes in a very engaging and most memorable way.
The exhibition is rich with dazzling visual experiences. A diptych of one larger work on a wooden panel next to a smaller one uses vibrant colors, black squares, and diagonal patterns to create a hologram-type effect. This appears to be an example of the “landscape of tension” that the artist mentions in her statements.
“Flash Point”, Acrylic paint on wood panel, 30 x 30 inches (left) “Light Up”, Acrylic on wood panel, 14 x 14 inches (right)
An installation of wooden cubes, partially painted, was situated in the middle of the exhibition floor. Unlike other works on wood, these were not mostly painted over. Much of the wood and its accompanying grain were present. The result is a new type of texture, a mix of organic and synthetic. The balance presented in these works is calming, assuring…almost endearing. Thus, it was most appropriate that this installation would be in the center of the exhibition floor…like a listener hearing the voices of the other works and speaking back in one singular voice. Emily Sall sees her work as landscapes of balance, juxtaposition, and contradiction, leading to visual coherence. In “Control Space - A work in Progress”, she presented these landscapes in a very engaging and most memorable way.
Patchwork by Emily Sall Mural on wall
Figuration by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 40 x 40 inches $3500
Stir Crazy by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 43 x 43 inches $3500
Multiplicity by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 30 x 30 inches $2500
Flash Point by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 30 x30inches $2500
Light Up by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 14 x 14 inches $400
Razzle Dazzle by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 32 x 32inches $2500
Shape Shift by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 60 x 24 inches $3500
Cubes by Emily Sall Acrylic on wood panel 12 x 12 x 12 inches $500 per cube
Emily Sall Emily Sall is a painter whose studio practice and work seek to transform the perception of space, references architecture and plays on geometric abstraction. There is a visual play between 2D and 3D hardedge paintings, mixed media assemblages, installation and murals. She is interested in creating; shifting, mounting, teetering landscapes of tension, balance, imbalance and harmonious visual relationships. Emily considers herself to be a builder of these ideas. The results can often be surprising and rich as the work takes on a life of its own as chance an accidental play juxtaposed with intentional design move the work. Emily received her BFA in painting from KCAI in 2005. She has shown both locally and nationally. In 2007 Emily was awarded the Charlotte Street Foundations Visual Artist Fellowship. Emily has been commissioned in the past to create artboards for Missouri Bank, public murals and commissioned paintings for establishments in KCMO.
Photography Credit: EG Schempf
Studios Inc’s three-year residency program provides a unique immersion experience that allows mid-career artists to use their studio space to conceptualize, produce, and exhibit their work. With support from the Neighborhood Tourism Development Fund, Studios Inc serves the Kansas City Community and Crossroads Arts District by offering a free, open-to-the-public exhibition series throughout the year, which includes opening receptions, First Friday receptions, artist talks, regular gallery hours, as well as scheduled tours and events. It is our hope to showcase and promote high-quality, interesting artwork to both visitors and members of the Kansas City community. 1708 Campbell St. KCMO 64108 thestudiosinc.org