Glendale Arts hosted an opening reception for the “Aphorisms” exhibit by Corrie Siegel at the ace/121 Gallery on Oct. 12. Siegel’s artwork will be available to view through Nov. 11.
Siegel uses the arts as a method of philosophic exploration and a tool for community building. Her works often explore identity and politics through lineages of craft. She plays with personal limitations of knowledge and understanding by using detailed observation and involved processes for collecting and rendering her subject matter.
“Aphorisms” has been a work in progress since 2020.
“The project started as a form of self-help during the lockdown,” Siegel said. “I would think of a guiding idea, and once I settled on a short phrase or sentence, I would write it over and over until there was a tangled mess of text. Then I would carefully paint within the negative space with the aim to give the watercolor pigment as much freedom as it could have in each small parcel of space.”
Watercolor is a new medium to Siegel. She explored it in this body of work.
“Watercolor paint can be messy, delicate, controlled, gestural, bold or gossamer,” Siegel said. “It’s mostly water just like our bodies, too. I’ve been thinking about the way a body internalizes language and pushes against it. Despite the sage advice I give myself, I can’t follow it. … Can I follow it?”
The ace/121 Gallery is located at 121 N. Kenwood St. The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
First published in the October 14 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
