From the Curator:
Dear Viewer,
Not much needs to be said about the current state of the world and all the factors lighting it aflame. Not many words are needed to describe what is meant by the title “Heat” for this exhibition. What there is to say can all be found in the collection of works you are about to scroll through. Below you will find artwork sent in to us from artists around the world in response to a call which offered only one simple and vague guideline: to adhere to the theme of “Heat” in today’s reality. The record-breaking (our record at least) number of submissions we received in response only further proves that not many words are needed to understand what exactly “HEAT” means, as does the quality, originality, and thoughtfulness of the works featured here.
Among the artwork featured in this exhibition, you may not find so many which offer some uplifting, positive message about the future or about humanity, (you can find that in our corresponding show, RELIEF) but that doesn’t mean you won’t find something warm, vibrant, and compelling, after all, these are more of those unneeded words used to describe “Heat”.
Although “Heat in today’s reality” may reference anything from this dire pandemic, climate change and environmental catastrophe, social and racial justice, political and economic turbulence, mental and physical health crises, or simply the hot summer air, these references aren’t so necessary to bring “Heat” to mind. Heat is something that must be felt, internally and externally, to be fully understood. And clearly, the world is feeling it.
Please enjoy the show and be sure to visit our corresponding exhibition, RELIEF, for more incredible artwork and artists!
– S
Hira Asim
Lahore, Pakistan
Isolated
Gouache on Wasli
My work is about the feeling and reality of being stuck at home during lockdown. How time has seemingly morphed in to something unrecognizable- fluctuating, moving fast, then slow and then fast again creating a chaos in my mind. Being alone at home has made my personal space( my room ) transpose all kinds of fluctuating energy. All this time spent in isolation has allowed me to get a better grasp on the flow of time and start a dialogue with myself, with the parts of me tucked away deep inside, finally coming to the forefront. Giving rise to my unconscious thoughts, letting them bleed in to the domain of my awareness and finding all the missing pieces that make me me.
Ruby Moore
Sofia, Bulgaria
View From the Flames
Acrylics on paper, A5
“View From the Flames” is a powerful and emotional abstract from a series inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Dido and Aeneas. This particular piece represents the moment Dido takes her own life upon the pyre she made to burn her lover’s belongings. As she dies, she looks out to sea and through the flames watches his ship sail away from her.
Kinnari Saraiya
United Kingdom
Victoria Terminus
Jesmonite and Chilli powder
130 x 60 x 30 cm
Kinnari Saraiya, born in Bombay, India, addresses contemporary discourses of the imperial past from a post-colonial standpoint. ‘Victoria Terminus’ is the exact replica of the plinth where the sculpture of the Empress of India, Queen Victoria, stood. It is made out of jesmonite and painted with Chili, a vibrant spice with a prominent smell that is spicy and intolerable when consumed in great amounts, representing pain and violence. Plinths throughout history have glorified important people in power but when the same plinth is snatched of its royal person, it recontextualizes public monuments. This absence is highlighted through the presence of a spotlight just above the plinth. The act of removal, the vacuum, acts as a space of active protest. It challenges the language of monuments themselves. The fact that they do not represent the history of power and domination but rather subverts the same notion through the absence of presence
Katherine Shapiro
moving around
Blinded by the Sun II
Ink on paper, 148 x 210 mm
Katherine is a half Japanese artist and illustrator currently roaming the globe experiencing different ways of living whilst working on herself and her art. She is inspired by nature, time and timelessness, and the spaces we inhabit, both physical and emotional.
Veerle Coucke
Belgium
fight or flee
acrylic on wood 70 by 50
It deals with 2 people struggling in a relationship. In the heat of the moment, they are undecided whether to fight are let loose.
Emily Herberich
CT
Fire in Water
Oil on canvas, 2019, 24X18
“Fire in water” fantastically depicts the moment when a comet rockets into the ocean, a moment of extreme heat and yet of relief. As a painter, I enjoy often painting these moments of discrepancy, when the event can be interpreted in two different ways, and I enjoy creating images that cause the viewer to think about this paradox.
Zara Kand
Joshua Tree, CA, USA
Uprooted
Oil on canvas / 20×24″
I paint that which I find mysterious. Art making is a means of processing the subconscious, the end vision providing a way to better understand ourselves and the meaning behind our shared existence. In my work this language often consists of symbolism, curious landscapes familiar yet distant, and figures that are often as confused as we are.
Sonal Jadhav
Maharashtra, India.
Heat
1.Acrylic on canvas
2.Acrylic on canvas
3/4. Printmaking
This works are related to the subject heat that I am working on thoughtfulness and thoughts producing and knowing better self with psychology of human mind. Mind get energy that is heat for me to control and perceive situations. positive, negative energy is that thing we need to know about specifically about explosion of thoughts. I have been working in psychology and abundances of thoughts. Inner self reflection and existence of energy (Heat) is the key of my creations.
Keri Sheheen
Staten Island, NY
Smoke Break Demon
Silkscreen, 8” x 10”
During the endless heat wave of 2020, this piece was created for a series inspired by the architecture of the historic homes in my neighborhood and the mysteries and narratives they contain.
Anashrita Henckel
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Winds of Change
Digital Artwork – Photo layered images of hand cut paper cuttings.
INSTAGRAM // WEBSITE // SAATCHIART
This photo layered artwork was created during the first weeks of the COVID 19 lockdown. Looking out of my window after a hot desert sandstorm, I noticed the wind had ‘drawn’ patterns in the sand. For me the wind is so changeable and unpredictable thus acting as a symbol for the uncertain times that stormed upon us as well as an apt first layer for the image. The second layer is a hand cut, anatomical study of the human brain. A symbol of the incredible ingenuity, creativity and resilience of humans even in the face of a global pandemic. Whether it be the front line workers, the vaccine researchers or people turning to creativity to pass the time in confinement. Finally, the geometric pattern, based on the number twelve, represents the passing of each part of the day. For some, a time of intense illness, others a time to bask in the warmth of family closeness. But for all, a rewiring of our brains for the common good, a time when many changed their routines to keep others safe.
Kelli Jai
Atlanta, GA
The Color of Solitude
Photography & Poetry
Heat is: pressurized moments, feelings, air. Heat is something I love and know, as a southern woman. I experience the essence of heat when executing my art, and expressing my soul.
Samantha Wood
New York, NY
Untitled Duo
Watercolor paint, gold pen, paper collage. 14.5″ x 20″
Samantha Tai Wood is a mixed media artist in New York City. Her work translates into visual form the dichotomy between reveling in a solitary moment and exploring the interconnectedness of the human experience. Her preoccupation with confronting the limitations inherent in methods of human connection leads to work that honors this predicament through specificity of medium without losing sight of the viewer’s placement within the exchange or the visibility of the artist’s hand creating the piece. Growing up as a biracial woman, Samantha could almost see the barriers between herself and the antagonistic communities around her. This, coupled with a predilection for solitude, engendered a general sense detachment and an awareness of the silent exchange of effort required to bridge it. Her mixed-media paintings and drawings distill this ephemeral exchange into tangible, more clarified, intimate reenactments that leave room for silent reflection on one’s relationship to the work and, as a result, one’s relationship to others.
Weihui Lu
Queens, NY
Scorch
Acrylic on Canvas
As a Chinese American immigrant, I draw inspiration from both Eastern ink painting and Abstract Expressionism. As I was researching the history of Chinese landscape painting, I became interested in the idea of the landscape acting as a visual metaphor for the mind, and the parallels between contemporary mental health issues and the environmental crisis. Just as the earth is overheating from the carbon emissions caused by our ever-quickening pace of life, the mind is under siege from constant catastrophic news events and the pressure of economic competition. In these paintings, heat, in the form of the color red, becomes a symbol of the intense anxieties and stressors of modern life.
Simon Welsh
Sydney, Australia
A Race to the End
30cmx 59 cm unframed
INSTAGRAM: @hipsterdirtbag7
I created this work back in January as fires raged through our country. Millions of hectares were burned – for weeks- our country was brought to our knees. Our Government continued to be blind to real threat – global warming. Ignorant, blind yes man in power continue to neglect real issues for the sake of holding onto power. As I look at this work today a mere 6 months later , covid , #blacklivesmatter, could easily be represented in this work. The work is about the powerless losing what little control they already have. The eyes have already been threaded but we are still on control whether we pull the thread and tighten the strings, fully losing sight of our hopes, dreams and future. The nameless character is a prophetess, a harbinger of humanity. Its up to us to let continue to see truth and hope.
Khenzom
New Haven, Connecticut
Wrath
Oil paint on linen canvas (24″ x 30″)
“Wrath” is a self-portrait that captures the act of confronting one’s inner demons. In the foreground, I’m removing the mask of a wrathful deity – a common character in traditional Tibetan art. Despite their seemingly evil exteriors, many wrathful deities are actually protectors of Buddhism who take on frightening forms of evil in order to scare away evil itself. My painting incorporates elements of traditional Tibetan paintings – such elements include a subject embodying a wrathful expression and body stance; an idyllic landscape background with stylistic clouds, mountains, and rivers; and vibrant, animated flames that frame the subject and intensify the mood. By taking on the “role” of a wrathful deity who portrays itself as evil, the subject – in turn – reveals that the face of evil is sometimes really your own face. Particularly relevant at a time when the demons around us feel impossible to confront, the realization that each of us has our own demons to slay is an act filled with intensity and heat, illustrating the tremendous effort it takes to rid ourselves of evil.
Emi Brener
Uruguay
Warmth
oil on canvas, oil and embroidery on canvas
My girlfriend used to pull me closer in her sleep. At three am, there was nothing else but us. Those fleeting, intimate moments are the inspiration for my work. As an artist, I want to do my best to keep alive what I feel, and in so doing, preserve those small glimpses of raw, intimate life. I am presenting paintings that I feel represent the warmth that I wanted to portray, regarding the Heat theme. Heat can be soft, like coming home, and that is what I wanted to portray.
Callie Morton
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Disasters of the Homeland
Oil on canvas 24”x 30”
I created this piece to explore the larger effects of climate change in the world, focusing on my home of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Lancaster county is known for their agriculture, hence why I chose to include the subject matter of a barn. I’m beginning to notice small changes that climate change is having on the world around me and that drove me to create this piece. As a strong climate change believer I wanted to open people’s eyes to what could easily become our reality. This particular barn was one that I would pass every time I drove from Lancaster home to Harrisburg, never seeming to change. I chose to show the effects that natural disasters are beginning to have on our environment and our culture. To evoke the emotional reaction of the viewer I chose to keep the color palette limited and dull on the painting other than the focal point, the barn.
Taylor Yingshi
Seattle
The War
12 x 16′
A cyanotype print of a woman with hands working in a frenzy, acrylic red and yellow bamboo shoots growing out sporadically. I wanted this to portray the chaos of war, the various hands grabbing at the woman and the bamboo showing the deterioration of nature.
Opal
CA, United States
After Ashes
I created this piece on the one year anniversary of the Northern California wildfires which took place in 2018. The piece presents an open question as to what the future holds after such destruction.
Mary Anne Donovan
Cincinnati, OH
1.The Tree of Life 2020 2. Floating Home
Acrylic on arches, 8” x 10”. Acrylic on arches, 16” x 20”.
Our world is bursting with fears, unmet needs and the frustrations of inequality. This is a world of mortal dangers and stresses where solace and safety may be available only by isolation.
Zach Brown
West Henrietta, NY
I think in terms of color a lot, its always my starting point in the artistic process so I tried to pick pieces that had warm colors and settings that fit the theme. the black and white Pieces may be cool in color but the piece is commenting on the body’s aesthetic connections to nature and to me, that means there is the warmth of life coursing through both the body and the sand dune.
Joy Tirade
Oakland, California
Studies for Light / Series
Watercolor, gouache, black gesso, salt water, and rose water on archival paper with deckle and natural torn edge. Sizes vary.
My practice operates at the nexus of experimental video, abstract painting, intermedia and light installation. In my work and in my research I create connections between phenomenology, technology, and feminist theory to explore aspects and qualities of human emotion such as love and longing. This new series, Studies for Light, is made with watercolor, gouache, rose-water, ink, and salt on paper. I am considering light as a property of space. Interrogating how light can be a physical property of a work and an implied aspect. How light can work as space, as heat, as an expanse, and as time. How all of this can affect feelings of longing.
Milena Correia
Brazil
Mother Fire
Fire is life. Wisdom. The beginning of everything. It was born from the hands of mother nature and made the human being develop as species in the world. Then, “developed” humans transform the fire in anger, fight, war! The “supreme” species, the only one that’s capable to destroy its own environment, its own mother. Now we need to rethink. To go back. We need urgently to change! We need to die, to born again. Now we are in the end. Burning. Fire is death. The end. Destruction is here because we need to construct a new way of life. Changes are coming. We need to learn with the fire, with mother nature. The old ash is the new cycle.
Really enjoyed this themed exhibition, beautifully curated pieces that contribute a variety of angles on the theme of Heat. Thank you for putting it together.