Curator's statement

By Bethany Corriveau

Text carries with it an implicit responsibility to communicate. As readers and viewers, we expect the written word to be readily comprehensible, to explain information and tell stories, to guide us, and to allow us to contextualize the world and our place in it. Accustomed to the immediate comprehension conveyed by the juxtaposition of text and image in mediums such as books, advertisements, and websites, we as viewers may initially expect an easy understanding of the work presented here. Instead, the artists in this show have disrupted the relationship between text and reader, relieving it of its implicit duty to explicate and clarify.

The text instead becomes a vehicle for the viewer’s participation in the work of art. From fragments of words to full sentences, from handwriting morphed into abstraction, the artists in this exhibit explore the varying functions of the written word within the picture plane and art object. In Cooke’s work, for example, the words are the picture. Her text boldly confronts the viewer with a question to be answered. Creating a new narrative from existing sources, Slane recontextualizes fragments of information by combining text and image from Internet and popular media. Petrie inserts words into her jewelry designs to hint at a personal narrative to which viewers may relate. In her embroidered banners, Banzhaf explores the relationship between the public and the private. Hileman presents photographs of enigmatic words chalked in public spaces, also delving into questions of authenticity through the incorporation of the same photographs into a patchwork quilt. Horner abstracts signatures into swirling designs on her plates, cups, and pitchers. Presenting words alongside unsightly faces, DiMaio’s plates implore viewers to rethink their assumptions of appearance and personality.

The use of text brings to the works a deep sense of personal expression and connection, hinting at but not fully disclosing an aspect of the artist’s own individual narrative. The text becomes a catalyst for the viewer’s own narrative to enter into the work. Even though these works include text, the story is incomplete. The viewer, actively participating by reading the words in each creation, brings to completion the work of art begun by the artist.

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