Yours or Mine Exhibit at Underdonk Gallery
Underdonk Gallery’s upcoming exhibit “Yours or Mine” offers a visually striking and thought-provoking experience, blending intricate details and diverse media to create a cohesive exploration of personal and spiritual narratives. The exhibit’s rich interplay of materials and techniques accentuates the artists' individual mythologies, resulting in an innovative showcase of contemporary art.
Words and Photos by Vanessa Hock
Underdonk Gallery’s upcoming group exhibition Yours or Mine invites viewers into a realm where diverse media and techniques converge to amplify individual mythologies. This body of work features an eclectic mix of neon light artistry, mixed-media sculptures, 3D-printed works, laser-cut plexiglass, and edible artworks.
The exhibit curator describes the exhibition as a collection of relics imbued with a spiritual element that underscores the connections between relationships, faith, and community. Each artist brings a unique perspective, weaving their personal narratives into their work.
Jackie Slanley, a Bushwick-based artist, presents a series of botanical-inspired pieces using laser-cut, tinted plexiglass. Influenced by Japanese scrolls, biology archives, and 19th-century botanical illustrations, Slanley merges botany, biology, and technology. Her pieces feature tinted plexiglass layered in cinematic gradients that evoke a sense of depth and fluidity.
Slanley's artistic journey, which began during the isolation of COVID, is rooted in her exploration of botany as a means of finding beauty and life. Her process involves meticulous research, digital design, and the technical precision of laser-cutting, culminating in multi-dimensional, sculptural works that extend into space.
“I go through archives and I pull images from biologists from the 1800s of flora and fauna, and in Illustrator, I start to morph them together to create my own species of flowers and insects. All of this is an attempt to world build and create my own mythology,” says Slanley. “All artists are creating our own mythology from our active creativity and it’s all pieces of a whole story.”
Slanley's plexiglass sculptures combine technical skill with artistic ingenuity, creating works that are both visually captivating and conceptually engaging. Her pieces expand the sense of dimensionality and through her techniques, she creates pieces that appear to shift and change depending on the viewer's perspective.
Jacquelin Zazueta constructs worlds rooted in Mexican folklore, Southern storytelling, and Catholic ritual. Her practice involves collecting objects from various sources to create shrine-like tableaus dedicated to specific lore. Zazueta’s use of 3D printing reflects on the idea of reproducible relics and ongoing storytelling, blending traditional and contemporary methods to explore cultural narratives.
Sam Reeder’s artistry lies in custom neon lighting, merging traditional neon tubes with modern LED technology. His intricate neon designs, which illuminate with a nostalgic glow, engage with contemporary queer culture. The bright neon pink of his work is more than alluring-it emits a sense of vibrant, provocative energy.
Sydney Shavers' frosting sculptures present a delicate, ephemeral quality. Shavers employs frosting—an unconventional medium reflecting Marie Antoinette’s opulence—to explore themes of fragility and the inevitable decay of authoritarian figures. The transient nature of her work, prone to cracking and deterioration, symbolizes the impermanence of power and beauty.
Oletha Devane’s works can be described as narrative altarpieces. She emphasizes healing and emotion with archetypal symbology through material culture. With a close inspection, the viewer will see dozens of materials such as beads, lace, mirrors, figurines, and blown glass.
“The materials and the beads are the palette,” says Devane. “I love fabrics and the idea of reflection on the surfaces, so beads become that element of reflection that often gets used. The idea of using glass is that it reflects light. I’m interested in that reflective quality that is sent back to us visually.”
She draws inspiration from her African American heritage, her travels throughout the African continent, and her Baha’i faith which all share a commonality of self-reflection and mythology. The story unfolds from the encounter with the work-the sculptures evoke a sense of movement and a literal transformation, as the viewer has to circumambulate the exhibit space to study each detail.
“How do we create a sense of awe?” asks Devane. “The altar itself is a prominent symbol. The pieces grew out of the need of where to put something that represents a certain aspect of healing or emotion. I use these artworks as a vehicle to think about the sacred in the various cultures I’ve experienced.”
Her work involves intricate detailing and a complex mix of materials, yet ensures harmony and coherence throughout her sculptures, by maintaining a sense of storytelling. The materials allow light to interact with the work in dynamic ways, engaging the viewer and enhancing the visual impact.
“The concept of materials were used to represent certain ideas. Mirrors are a reflection of ourselves. I want to see how these materials read to other people. I look at materials as markers of culture,” Devane says.
Overall, Yours or Mine offers a visually striking and thought-provoking experience, blending intricate details and diverse media to create a cohesive exploration of personal and spiritual narratives. The exhibit’s rich interplay of materials and techniques accentuates the artists' individual mythologies, resulting in an innovative showcase of contemporary art.