Nov 10th, 2020 • 7 minute read
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Curations with Jordan Holms: Patternation
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As a rule, humans love patterns. We are attracted to them because the ability to recognize, identify, and categorize patterns is a fundamental function of the human brain. It is a primitive survival mechanism, honed over thousands of years, that not only functions as a self-preservational tool, but also brings us psychological comfort. It is a skill that allows us to quickly process and adapt to our environment.
Patterning occurs organically in nature, visually, as well as through sound, smells, and textures, and it can also be artificially man-made. Due to this seemingly omnipresent nature of patterning, it’s easy to understand why patterns are often a fundamental element in art. Whether it’s optical, power-clashing, or an all-over treatment, patterning is ever-present in art. In art, patterns can be used as a compositional tool, a decorative element, or the work unto itself. The artists in this week’s curation incorporate patterns into their work in these ways and more.
Texture as Pattern
Full Bellied Laughter 5 is a mixed media work by artist Imani Shanklin Roberts, who uses both oil paint and fabric to create her work. In this painting, a young, jovial black man is encompassed by a halo of textured patternation. In this work, the striations and patches of fabric are quilt-like, comforting. They signal domesticity, home, as well as a specifically Afro-centric history and culture. About her work, the artist writes, “At an early age I developed a very strong sense of self and culture from work that surrounded me in my home, which referenced the African American experience. These images undoubtedly embedded itself in my personhood, thus encouraging me to embrace an Afrocentric perspective on identity, world-views, morality and aesthetics.”
Familiar Patterns
I find comfort in this painting by Mark Milroy, titled A Matisse Portrait, in its usage of that familiar Mattisean pattern. At once appendage-like and in reference to foliage, or maybe a stripped-down echo of the flowers resting on the coffee table. The navy blue and white pattern is hyper-flat but riddled with energy. It rushes to the foreground, while the other objects in this painting, the table, vase and book of Matisse portraits, recede. In this painting, pattern creates a through line between past and present art.
Mark Milroy was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in St. Thomas, Ontario. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and has two boys named Emerson and Angus.
Framing
This watercolor on bristol painting by artist Jeanne Jaladoni depicts a quiet moment between mother and daughter. Despite the serene demeanor of the work, pattern runs rampant. I am initially struck by the loose wreath that frames the scene, with its delicate leaves and ripe fruit. It is a clean, decisive borderline, anchored by unapologetic red lines on either side. Repeated again in the child’s shirt, we are drawn deeper into the scene, of mother and child sound asleep on the couch, and that is when the many patterns at play here begin to surface. Jaldoni writes that her paintings “explore cultural identity, with a main focus on her Filipino American identity.” In this image, we see those markers being articulated through textile motifs. A black and white tartan fabric, the mother’s soft pink floral shirt, and the pillow, with a vaguely Tommy Bahama-esque print. With all of these clashing patterns, one of the many strengths of the work is how they seem to co-habit without interfering with one another.
Organic Geometry
In this oil painting, titled Morrocan Shells, by Nikolina Kovalenko, organic geometric reigns supreme. The designs featured on the building in this painting have been heavily used in Islamic art and architecture for centuries. The kaleidoscopic patterns are echoed in the formation of the shells. Both Islamic architecture and shells are aesthetically rooted in mathematics and the Pythagorean spiral. Kovalenko says that her work is about “humanity’s fragile connection with nature.” The tension between the façade of the arabesque structure in the background on the conch shells in the foreground emphasizes this fraught relationship between patterns in architecture and naturally occurring objects. The perspective of this painting makes the shells appear larger than life, overtaking the building and perhaps implying nature’s enduring dominance over the built environment.
Power-Clashing
Unlike some of the other works in this curation that use pattern to convey a particular domestic quality, Juan Hinojosa mixed media on paper work, titled Two of 7, turns recognizable consumer goods into a quilted pattern. Among the varied materials in this work are postcards, jewelry, an iron on patch, ribbon, a shred of Hefty garbage bag packaging, images of berries, beer bottles, spirals, triangles, and flowers, all of which are methodically assembled to produce an amorphous figure. This collage is the epitome of power-clashing - a dizzying amalgamation of patterns, textures, and colors that don’t seemingly compliment each other, but when married create a cogent whole. About his work, the artist writes that his “complex collage-drawings intimately challenge greed, obsessive consumption, and the social stratification of American culture.”
Patch-Work
In this painting, titled Girls at Sunset, by Maddie Stratton, pattern is tied to place and bodily presence. The yellow and red floral and green and purple polka-dot bathing suits worn by the women flanking left and right cement their bodies in space. The flatness of the cobblestoned ground, which appears to levitate up unto the equally flat shrubbery positions both elements as patterns rather than dimensional features of the space. Even the foliage in the far background is more of a herringbone pattern - an intimation of a thing, rather than the thing itself. This approach allows the viewer to appreciate the compositional elements of this painting for their color and structure, as well as objects that contribute to the narrative of this scene. Stratton states that “Her interests lie in the blurred boundaries of what it means to be human. She uses vibrant colors throughout her paintings in an attempt to homogenize the hierarchy of subject matter; the human subjects share the stage with the flora and fauna. Her paintings are derived from a patch-work of source materials, creating imaginative, everyday scenarios.”
Pattern Purist
If I had to identify a pattern “purist” in this curation, it would be Jennifer Sanchez. Her acrylic on canvas painting, NY1850, is composed solely of ten strategically executed patterns. Yet another example of power-clashing, candied pinks and blues sidle up to sickly greens and marrons, while fiery oranges and yellows encroach upon muted gray cubes that seem to jump off of the surface at times. Not unlike a map, it’s as if each pattern battles with the others to consume more space, more territory, more presence in the composition, creating a striking tension in the painting. Sanchez writes that “Visual impact is what she’s after; the macro and the micro […] Each mark reveals the rhythm and attention needed to craft the painting [...] Wobbly grids, sinuous blobs and transparent colors indicate great care and organization, but little desire for perfection. Her compositions are not fully planned, preferring an open-ended approach. She’ll start with color concepts and patterns. Then make intuitive and reactive choices along the way.”
Visual Dichotomies
This painting by Lee Mora is clean, slick, in opposition to some of the more frenetically patterned works in this group. There is a decidedly Seventies quality about the work, titled Secret Tunnel, akin to Frank Stella’s earlier work. Perhaps this is due in part to the burnt sienna, orange, yellow, and cherry red colors, which was a signature palette of the era. The stylized patterns in this painting also emphasize an optical quality that disrupts the picture plane, confusing foreground with background, at once concave and convex. Simultaneously flat and dimensional, the 'opticality' of this work creates dichotomies at every corner. Mora states that this specific painting is a way to “remind people to break out and explore every path they can, and see things through to the end to find a better way. This is one of the many ways out.”
Lee Van Mora has been crushing it in the art world since 2003. He is a huge anime nerd and cites Legend of Zelda as a major influence in his life, but doesn't appreciate being called a weeb. He watches a LOT of television and films. Escapism is the key theme he explores. A lot of his paintings are made before even he knows what they mean. It's not until he's finished that he tries to understand what is in his subconscious. The portals have always been a symbol of an escape from his life circumstances. Feeling powerless to the adversity he faces with surprising regularity. In retrospect, he realizes that he is constantly conjuring a way out and trying to show you the way.
About Jordan Holms
Jordan Holms is an interdisciplinary artist who works primarily in painting, sculpture, and textiles. Her work examines how space is materialized, organized, and made to mean. She has exhibited internationally in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada and her work is held in multiple private collections. In addition to a solo exhibition at Marrow Gallery, her paintings have been included in a group show at SFMoMA Artists Gallery, a number of MFA survey exhibitions, featured at BAMPFA, and in Adidas’s San Francisco Market Street storefront. Most recently, Holms was a recipient of the Vermont Studio Center Artist Grant, where she was an artist-in-residence in February 2020. She is also a 2016-2019 recipient of the San Francisco Art Institute’s Graduate Fellowship Award. She earned a Master of Fine Arts and Master of Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2019, where she graduated with honors. Holms lives and works in San Francisco, California.