Promised Land

Zoë Sheehan Saldaña

February 6 - March 1, 2015

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Promised Land is a mixed media installation of various handmade and readymade objects in a carpeted, painted gallery.

The artist states, “My artwork is concerned with the status of objects and making, with particular attention to the significances of making by hand in the contemporary moment. I’m motivated by curiosity, enchantment, and a sense of desperate optimism in the face of the ferocious disconnection that characterizes daily life in post-industrial America. The works I make are often a bit absurd or somehow untrustworthy while also generous in their own ways. I prefer to make problems, not solutions.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Zoë Sheehan Saldaña was born in Massachusetts in 1973 and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She studied at Oberlin College (B.A., 1994), the Rochester Institute of Technology (M.F.A., 1998), and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2000). Her solo exhibitions include Ersatz at Steve Turner Contemporary (Los Angeles, CA) and Meanwhile at Light Work (Syracuse, NY). Sheehan’s work has been included in curated group exhibitions, both in the United States and internationally. She is a Professor at Baruch College in New York City.

Artist’s website: http://www.zoesheehan.com

Image: Anchor, 2014

Installation view
Visible works:
Painting, 2015
Carpet, 2013
Dropcloth, 2012
Float, 2013
Coyote, 2014
Salt, 2015

Float
2013
Blown glass sphere
~16×18×16”
A master craftsman at the Reijmyre (Sweden) Glassworks blew the sealed glass bubble, which is buoyant enough to support a human body in water. Created in part during a residency with ArtLab, Reijmyre, Sweden.
Coyote
2014
Purchased coyote pelt
60×4”
Carpet
2013
Hand-tufted cut-pile wool
10×17’
Created with the participation of Bill Blachly’s flock of Romney and Border Leicester sheep (Marshfield, Vermont), Kate Smith and the Marshfield (VT) School of Weaving, the Green Mountain Spinnery (Putney, VT), and Joshua Hasson (Walnut Creek, California).

Anchor (installation view)
2014
3-D printed polymer
~1.25×.375×.375″
Open edition
Installed at eye level in middle of south wall
Painting (detail)
2015
Custom made milk (casein) paint on existing walls
~650 square feet as installed

Salt in readymade cup
2015
3.5×3×2”

Roller
2015
Alum tawed lambskin on phenolic core
9.25×2×2”
Used to paint gallery walls.

Painting (recipe)
Freely distributed instructions for making the paint used to cover the gallery walls.