Tag Archives: exhibition

Current Exhibition

Finding Home: Mami Takahashi’s Cage Mentality

We Live in the Sky: Home, Displacement, Identity from October 16 to December 7, 2024 at The Stamp Gallery | University of Maryland, College Park | Written by Ellen Zhang

We Live in The Sky is an exhibition that combines diverse voices on what home means to individuals. From Tori Ellison’s use of UMD writing students’ phrases about home to Mami Takahashi’s experience as a woman away from her Tokyo home, both artists explore belonging and identity. How Takahashi’s piece “Cage Mentality” expresses belonging, or the lack thereof, particularly struck me. 

Cage Mentality (2015) is a documentation of Takahashi’s one-hour-long performance, consisting of her building an enclosure of woven strings around herself. Starting with horizontal lines, Takahashi builds a layer of strings inches away from herself. With limited body movement, the artist closes the gaps of the horizontal strings by weaving, knotting, and crossing vertical lines. She does this until her entire body is hidden within the strings. When reflecting on the process, Takahashi states,  “In this uncomfortable situation where my body constantly touched lines, I had to force my arms to stretch more than necessary to continue to create a cage-like space”.

Mami Takahashi, Cage Mentality, 2015, documentation of performance, single-channel video, 03:00 min. 

In this way, the discomfort is self-inflicting, which makes the viewer question why Takahashi is doing this. Despite the uncomfortable process, she finds “the lure of isolation and its pain”. This represents how finding a “home” in a foreign environment is complex as navigating personal identity while facing social pressures can lead to isolation. While seclusion is painful, it can be enticing because it offers refuge from external forces such as adapting to a new language, traditions, and more. However, rejecting pressures to conform isn’t exactly liberating. The fear of losing one’s identity contrasts with the desire to fit in, resulting in internal turmoil. Social connection is a basic human need and, unfortunately, many immigrants feel pressured to sacrifice elements of their identity to satisfy it. In Cage Mentality, the social connection disappears as the barrier between the individual and the outside world becomes starker. 

So what does Cage Mentality say about home? We typically associate the term “home” with comfort. However, Takahashi challenges this idea by reflecting on the complexities of finding this source of solace. The quest for home includes mental turmoil and can lead to painful isolation. At the same time, solitude can provide a sense of security, allowing individuals to remove themselves from the pressures of a foreign environment. 

Takahashi’s work is included in We Live in The Sky at The Stamp Gallery of the University of Maryland, College Park, from October 16 to December 7, 2024.

For more information on Mami Takahashi, visit ​​https://mamitakahashi.art/.

For more information on We Live in The Sky and related events, visit stamp.umd.edu/centers/stamp_gallery.

Current Exhibition

What it Means to Linger

Leave a comment

I Resist This from March 4 to April 6, 2024 at The Stamp Gallery | University of Maryland, College Park | Written by Reshma Jasmin

The first time I visited Stamp Gallery’s I Resist This was on its fourth day open. The current exhibition takes the form of an artist residency, which means that the artist, Charlotte Richardson-Deppe, would be working on the pieces for the exhibition in the gallery itself throughout the course of the program. I had met Richardson-Deppe prior to this exhibition, but I didn’t know her in the context of her work as an artist. I also had never encountered a behind-the-scenes look into the artistic process serving as an artform itself. As such, I was looking forward to talking to her about the inspiration behind her choice to perform her process and watching her in action. But on my first day in the gallery, I was alone. A bit later, someone came in, and commiserated with me about not seeing Richardson-Deppe. But she noted that she saw traces of Richardson-Deppe’s presence over the course of hours or days— in Crocs which had been moved and through progress on a textile piece that was splayed out on benches.

When I came in the next day, I did see Richardson-Deppe, and I was able to chat with her and watch her work for hours. I learned about the function of her two sewing machines; one that was well equipped for heavier fabrics (machine on the left) and the other that was meant only for hemming (machine on the right). She told me about her thrift-store strategy of buying a large quantity of cheap clothes and how she mostly collected sweaters, pull-overs, sweatpants, and leggings by chance, but that such heavier materials held up longer for her wearable creations.

Stamp Gallery on March 15, 2024

I Resist This is an exploration of interdependence versus independence, and, in many ways, serves as social commentary about the futile desire for complete independence and the simultaneously undeniable need for social support. To one of the many UMD art courses that visited the gallery, Richardson-Deppe described how she wanted to make visible the invisible relationships and networks and explore different social dynamics. e also mentioned that her wearable pieces did eventually rip during performance, but that it was an expected and welcome end. She informed me that she also teaches in the art department, and I came in during the exact hours she taught a class the day before. I was relieved that I’d be able to see Richardson-Deppe once a week, so the disappointment of the day before dissipated. But the movement of her Crocs lingered in my mind. Why was the sign of previous presence more melancholic than absence alone?

Whenever I was in the gallery sans Richardson-Deppe, I’d look for her Crocs, and sure enough, they’d be in a different location than when I last saw them (See if you can spot them in the photos below!). It was comforting to know she had been there, but she also felt just out of reach. Would I see her again? Absolutely, and it would often be the very next day, and I knew that. And yet, each time I didn’t see her, I felt as though we were two ships passing in the night. 

Stamp Gallery on March 15, 2024 Stamp Gallery on March 15, 2024

Stamp Gallery on April 05, 2024

My expectations all came from the descriptor: Artist-In-Residence. “___-in-residence” is most commonly used for professors, artists, poets, etc. This use comes from the definition of “resident” from the 14th century Medieval Latin word residentem and/or residens, which refers to one who dwells in one location to fulfill their duty in a Christian mission/obligation sense. The phrase “___-in-residence” and the expanded context of the definition only began showing up in the 19th century. 

Related to resident is residence, or in Medieval Latin, residentia, which means is one’s dwelling place or the act of dwelling in a place. These words are derivatives of residere, which is Medieval Latin for reside. The broken down meaning is “re-”: back, again and “sidere”/“sed”: to sit. Together, residere means “sit down, settle; remain behind, rest, linger; be left.”

Richardson-Deppe’s pieces rest, remain, and are left behind while she’s not in the gallery. But Richardson-Deppe also lingers and settles in the gallery during the moments she herself is absent from the space. The growing piles of soft sculpture, the textile pieces approaching completion, the ever-changing composition of the items resting on her worktable, and of course, the silently moving Crocs all continue her performance of creation. The fact that all such changes occurred are signs of life, signs of Richardson-Deppe.

I Resist This is an exploration of interdependence versus independence, and, in many ways, serves as social commentary about the futile desire for complete independence and the simultaneously undeniable need for social support. To one of the many UMD art courses that visited the gallery, Richardson-Deppe described how she wanted to make visible the invisible relationships and networks and explore different social dynamics. 

Charlotte Richardson-Deppe, Red (2023), Screenshot from video. Performers: Gwyneth Blair, Lisa Dang, Sarah Gnolek, Amanda Murphy, Charlotte Richardson-Deppe, Kat Ritzman, Jill Stauffer, Allie Wallace, Jackie Wang.

The relationship between an artist and their labor is typically invisible; most exhibitions only display completed artwork, and even if an artist is present at times to discuss their process and inspiration, we don’t get to see them at work. Through her residency, when Richardson-Deppe is in the gallery, her hands on the textiles and sewing machine are seen; as the maker she is part of her work. However, even residents of homes leave to fulfill their other responsibilities and live out other parts of their lives. One part of being a “resident”  involves leaving and returning, being absent and present. In the moments when Richardson-Deppe is not in the gallery, the connection to her work that was once visible disappears. Yet, though we do not see her, we still unconsciously perceive her presence in the changes to her work and workspace. What is invisible is still there, even if it only exists in the abstract understanding that change occurred and someone was responsible for it. Like Richardson-Deppe suggests through her work, even invisible relationships are inarguably present.

Stamp Gallery on March 15, 2024

Stamp Gallery on April 05, 2024

Humans look for signs of life everywhere. In space, we search for biomarkers, water/ice, radio waves, pollution. In biology, we look for order, sensitivity or response to the environment, reproduction, growth and development, regulation, homeostasis, and energy processing. In my homes, I look for whose shoes are present and which ones; I notice what food in the fridge is slowly decreasing and whether things have been shuffled around; what the arrangement of dishes in the dishwasher looks like; what doors are open; whether there are lights turned on and which ones. I look not only for signs that someone was home or not, but also for signs of who specifically is, and what they might be up to, how they feel.

Even when their presence is dubious, we look for people. Regardless of how lonesome we feel, when we search for people, and even when they aren’t around, we find them. Sometimes, we’re not even looking for them but we feel them throughout their absence nonetheless. Even when Richardson-Deppe isn’t in the gallery, she lingers.

Our presence in each others’ lives is irrefutable and irrevocable. People come and go, but there are always the traces they leave behind. And as melancholy as it is to feel each other linger, there’s a comfort in knowing that people are always around us, that they always stay with us.

Charlotte Richardson-Deppe’s work is included in I Resist This at The Stamp Gallery of the University of Maryland, College Park, from March 4th to April 6th, 2024. Richardson-Deppe will end her artist residency with the performance I Resist This on April 6th, 2024 at 7pm.

Current Exhibition, Uncategorized

Adapting Art in Changing Times

Leave a comment

Placeholder from October 10 to December 9, 2023 at The Stamp Gallery | University of Maryland, College Park | Written by Rachel Schmid-James

In an age of rapid growth and change on Earth, it can be difficult to keep up. With Artificial Intelligence becoming smarter and robots becoming more and more a part of everyday life, we can either choose to succumb to the fear of losing everything to this up and coming technology, or utilize them to enhance and move forward. For many artists, electronics have become a useful tool in creating new, experimental pieces that before would not have even been possible. Such is the case with one of artist Richard Hart’s most recent pieces. Hart, whose past works have often focused around political issues and life in his native South Africa, decided to explore an idea using a new medium: rocks. Double Water Drawing (Croton River Rock) combines both the natural world and technology, as well as the physical and the untouchable. 

Richard Hart, Double Water Drawing (Croton River Rock) (2023), Two-channel video, river rock, water

On a blank, white, unstretched canvas, a singular rock (from Croton River in southern New York as the name suggests) stands smack down the middle, upright and rigid. Above and behind it, a projection of two other rocks is visible. Each rock is continuously “painted” with water, which then evaporates before a new design is created. No hand is shown creating these markings, and the video is clearly sped up as the drying process between each one takes mere seconds. The work is partially based on the concept of impermanence. Nothing is forever, the same way that the water designs on the rock will at some point dry and disappear. However, I think this message goes deeper than just the rocks. The use of technology in this piece, in a way, represents the impermanence of our constantly changing world, especially as the “old ways” of doing tasks in many careers are disappearing the same way the water fades from a rock. 

Hart’s work seems to ask us: how do we come to terms with the idea of constant change and evolution, while also not allowing it to take over our lives? We live in a time when artists working across all media fear AI taking their jobs or stealing their work for its algorithm. Billions of people have the world at their fingertips through the internet. Long gone are the days of classic art only being seen in museums. How do we move forward? Hart and other artists answer through pieces like Double Water Drawing (Croton River Rock): we embrace it and find a way to meld it into our art. The projector and the video add a layer to the work, enhancing instead of inhibiting. These changes can be tools if only we are able to accept them. 

Richard Hart, Double Water Drawing (Croton River Rock) (2023), Two-channel video, river rock, water

However, the future of AI taking over art is, I think, an unlikely one. Art is something so distinctly human, something we have been doing long before modern Homo Sapiens existed. When humans lived in caves they created swirls and illustrations using their hands and natural pigments, even lifting their children up to the ceiling so they could be a part of the ritual. It is this concept that I see reflected in Hart’s piece. The painting of rocks using water is something familiar, an activity that my friends and I used to do when we would play at the creek near my house—always disappointed when our creations would fade away in the hot sun. The combination of the old and the new in Double Water Drawing (Croton River Rock) gives me hope that art can continue on even when things feel uncertain, and that new technology does not need to be our enemy. 

Richard Hart’s work is included in Placeholder at The Stamp Gallery of the University of Maryland, College Park, from October 10 to December 9, 2023. For more information on Richard Hart, visit https://www.richard-hart-studio.com/. For more information on Placeholder and related events at The Stamp Gallery, visit https://stamp.umd.edu/centers/stamp_gallery.

Current Exhibition

Unfolding Doughtie’s Concepts Behind Placeholder

Leave a comment

Placeholder from October 10 to December 9, 2023 at The Stamp Gallery | University of Maryland, College Park | Written by Ellen Zhang

The Stamp Gallery’s newest exhibition Placeholder pays homage to the power of materials and images in their ability to contrast absence and presence, permanence and impermanence. Four artists (Elliot Doughtie, Richard Hart, Danni O’Brien, and James Williams II) have manifested these concepts into works of art that represent their individual interpretations. For those that keep up with the Stamp Gallery’s exhibitions, you may remember Elliot Doughtie from his iconic piece, Laundry Day Dubuffet, as part of the Gallery’s Spring 2023 exhibition UNFOLD. This time around, Doughtie has opted for fruits, instead of socks, as his muse. 

Elliot Doughtie, Laundry Day Dubuffet Series, (2021-ongoing), Plaster and transferred dyed cotton.

As the name suggests, Orange features a collection of partial oranges arranged on a pole. Each orange looks like it has been sliced at a series of odd angles and curves, creating the illusion that the oranges are sprouting out of the pole. What I find intriguing about Doughtie’s work is his ability to play with structure and shape in order to create illusion. In Laundry Day Dubufffet, Doughtie arbitrarily stacks sock replicas, made out of plaster, leaving the viewer confused as to how this work is able to stand on its own. In Orange, the artist also utilizes plaster to mold the shape of partial oranges into the sides of the pole. While it is unclear how these oranges are able to stick to the pole, it creates the perception of oranges growing out of a pole. 

Elliot Doughtie, Orange, 2023, Steel, plaster, wood, epoxy putty, ink, and concrete. 

This visual effect raises the question of permanence versus impermanence: Is this body of work permanently “done”? Will these partial oranges grow into whole oranges? By using fruit as his medium, Doughtie cleverly pokes at the idea of continuous growth. As an organic fruit grows, it undergoes various stages of development until it fully matures and detaches from its source. In Orange, I interpret the pole as the “source,” providing the necessary nutrients for each orange’s growth. Given that the partial oranges have not fully developed, we as the viewers are seeing a snapshot of something “in progress.” 

In addition to permanence versus impermanence, Doughtie alludes to absence versus presence. Upon a closer look, you will notice that the base of Orange has holes with imprints of an orange. This is evidence of a ripe orange that has dropped from its source, yet the orange itself is nowhere to be seen. As a viewer, we are seeing evidence of the full life cycle of an organic orange, from its “in progress” phase to evidence of its maturity. In a way, the sculpture reflects a kind of dynamic life on its own. Through this, Doughtie also simultaneously invokes absence and presence. In this case, we are aware of the existence of something, but its physical presence remains hidden from view. Perhaps, Doughtie will add the ripe orange later on, thus indicating the imprinted hole as a placeholder for the ripe orange. 

Elliot Doughtie, Orange, 2023, Steel, plaster, wood, epoxy putty, ink, and concrete. 

The concepts of permanence versus impermanence and absence versus presence are more than abstract notions. They manifest into individual thoughts, experiences, and emotions. For many students, permanence and perpetuity are sources of fear. They fear making choices due to the anxiety of making the wrong decision and becoming trapped with the consequences of that choice. In my own life, I have also experienced how absence and presence interact with one another. As Doughtie shows the presence of an orange through its absence, I can’t help but think of the well-worn cliche of “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” However, it doesn’t seem so cliche when I think back on my friendships that have come and gone; I have been forgetful in appreciating present relationships until they have faded away. 

While some may think Placeholder as a purely abstract exhibition, the themes that the artists convey certainly permeate into the real world. I particularly enjoy how Doughtie experiments with structure and shape to craft the viewer’s perceptions in a way that enhances the message he is communicating. From Laundry Day Dubuffet to Orange, he continuously challenges conventions surrounding form and composition to express nuanced yet relatable concepts. 

Doughtie’s work is included in Placeholder at The Stamp Gallery of the University of Maryland, College Park, from October 10 to December 9, 2023. For more information on Elliot Doughtie, visit https://elliotdoughtie.com/. For more information on Placeholder and related events at The Stamp Gallery, visit https://stamp.umd.edu/centers/stamp_gallery. 

Artist Oppurtunities, Calls for Submission

CALL FOR ARTISTS | SUBMIT JUNE 4 (DEADLINE EXTENDED!)

1 Comment

beautiful_lacunae_halfsizeFINAL_extended for blog_minimal

lacuna (linguistics), a lexical gap in a language | lacunae [plural]

Is the meaning of your artwork dependent upon specific references to a language or culture?

Do you feel that your artwork is best understood when interpreted by those who also share or know about a culture? Or when viewed by those who also speak a specific language?

Do you feel that there is a gap of understanding when English-speakers interpret your artwork?

The Stamp Gallery at the University of Maryland invites you to submit images of your work to its second summer exhibition, Beautiful Lacunae.

Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism that is still spoken in parts of modern-day India, has 96 words for different forms of “love.” Some languages in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Asia do not have words for “color,” but all have words to describe the seen world (1). Artists who speak languages that read right-to-left often create visual narratives that also read right to left.

Beautiful Lacunae asks us all: how does language affect an artist’s production of art? How does it affect a viewer’s interpretation?

What are the gaps between these experiences?

Beautiful Lacunae will provide a platform for artists to present work related to a  language or culture in its most natural, intended form. Labels will be written in the language that the artist chooses, and a pop-up library—created collaboratively with exhibiting artists—will be available for visitors to investigate cultural references further.

Artists are encouraged to submit 2-D or 3-D work in any medium, including digital, installation, performance, text, and sound. Size of entries are restricted to the size of the Gallery space: please email for Gallery dimensions. There is no entry fee.

TO SUBMIT: Please email the following to stampgallery@umd.edu with title “Beautiful Lacunae Application – [Name].”
  • Up to 10 images of your work. If video or audio recordings or documentation are essential to your proposed body of work, clips should be shared as a link to a streaming site (with passwords provided as necessary).
  • Image list with title, date, materials, dimensions in inches, and any relevant specifications for installation or equipment necessary for the presentation of the work.
  • Phone number.
  • Link to artist website (if applicable).
All submissions must be received by May 21. Deadline extended to June 4. Accepted artists will be notified mid-June.
QUESTIONS: Grace DeWitt at stampgallery@umd.edu.

 

 

 

 

1 Anna Wierzbecka, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Calls for Submission

Call For Artists

Leave a comment

 

Application Deadline *EXTENDED* | April 3, 2017  New deadline: April 14, 2017 

 

Notification Date | Mid-April 2017 Late April / Early May

 

Exhibition Dates | June 5–July 28, 2017

 

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

 

Fueled by an interest in the notion of art as a means of catharsis, the organizing curators seek artists whose work figures into a narrative about personality, process, and release. Whether art-making amplifies emotions or mitigates them, all creative endeavors echo one step in the process of self-exploration. We invite works in all media that examine, highlight, or challenge the relationship between art and the fluid mind, perhaps by contemplating creativity as a means of therapy. We aim to cultivate a generative and introspective exhibition space that encourages visitors to reflect. The curators are intrigued with the following questions: How does the practice of making art participate in (or disrupt) the process of personal development? Can art adequately translate the variable ways conceptions of “self” operate? How does creativity alleviate or intensify emotion? In what ways does art comment on–and participate in–mental health and self-care? To what extent is art a mouthpiece for the mind in flux or an independent and evolving entity?

 

The curators will select a small group of artists whose work they feel critically and creatively engages the exhibition concept outlined above to show their work at the Stamp Gallery, a contemporary art space located in the University of Maryland-College Park’s Adele H. Stamp Student Union–Center for Campus Life. Any existing works must have been completed within the last 2 years to be considered. Undergraduate artists are strongly encouraged to apply.

 

This exhibition is the Stamp Gallery’s annual undergraduate-curated show. Previous exhibitions in the series include:

Paradise Now : A game of unequal circumstances and varying objectives by Baltimore-based artist Kimi Hanauer, featuring collaborations with Sydney Spann, Michael Stephens, and Nikki Lee, curated by Christopher Bugtong (Computer Science and Film Studies ’17), Grace DeWitt (Animal Science and Studio Art ’17), and Shay Tyndall (English and Mandarin Chinese ’17)

In Response: An exhibition showcasing the artwork of University of Maryland undergraduate students inspired by contemporary artists featured in the Contemporary Art Purchasing Program of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union, curated by Genesis Henriquez (Graphic Design ’16), Korey Richardson (Studio Art ’16), Shay Tyndall (English and Mandarin Chinese ’17)

Magnified : An exhibition of work by artists Chip Irvine, Michael Sylvan Robinson, curated by Carmen Dodl (Geographical Sciences ’16), Geena Gao (Information Systems and Economics ’16, and Martine Gaetan (Romance Languages ’15)

 

SPECIFICATIONS

We are looking for artwork in various media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, installation, video, and performance.

We also welcome proposals for creative or interactive projects inspired by the exhibition concept from individuals or groups working in other fields such as music, film, and poetry.

 

CURATORS

 

Tasiana Paolisso, B.S. Architecture 2018

Inspired by her mother’s creativity and artistry, Tasi is a junior architecture student who aspires to design museums and galleries. Her commitment to the creative world is evident in her performing arts position at The Clarice and her docent experience at the Stamp Gallery.

 

Sarah Schurman, B.A. English 2017

Driven by artistic curiosity, Sarah joined the Stamp Gallery team to facilitate creative engagement on campus and explore endless perspectives. She finds both catharsis and motivation through her studies and extracurriculars, particularly her education/literature coursework, executive board membership on The Vagina Monologues, and her time spent working with kids.

 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

 

Applicants must submit :

  • Artist’s Statement about specific works being submitted
  • Link to artist’s website (if applicable)
  • Proposed works with title and short description (up to 200 words), year of production, and medium)
  • Digital documentation of work
    • 5-10 images/files (JPEG 72 dpi)
    • video/audio clips should be shared as a link to a streaming site (with password information as necessary)

PLEASE SUBMIT TO :  stampgallery@umd.edu

Artists are responsible for delivering finished work to the Stamp Gallery by May 30, 2017 and for picking up their work from the Stamp Gallery no earlier than the close of the exhibition on July 28, 2017 and no later than August 4, 2017.

 

ABOUT THE STAMP GALLERY

 

The Stamp Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary art with an emphasis on the work of emerging and mid-career artists. The gallery supports contemporary art that is challenging and/or academically engaging and that addresses broad community and social issues. The gallery serves by providing exhibitions of social responsibility and artistic substance, as well as by offering an educational forum in which dialogue between artist and viewer and art and community is encouraged.

 

The Stamp Gallery is located on the first floor of the Stamp Student Union (1220 Stamp Student Union, The Adele H. Stamp Student Union – Center for Campus Life, University of Maryland College Park, 20742). 301-314-8492, stampgallery@umd.edu
Summer Hours: Monday–Friday: 11 am until 6 pm