Exhibitions

Jardin Orange Artist Residency
B22, SoFun Land, Tangxing Rd, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China.PRC
中国深圳市南山区塘兴路集悦城B区22栋

Exhibtion Dates:
May 11- 18/2019

Opening Event:
May 11/2018 - 10am-7pm
Opening Remarks @ 4pm

Show Description:

ISZAF is proud to present “Utterance,” an exhibition featuring 14 international artists that have focused their work on the idea of language, a perception or a reality. ISZAF Utterance began with a challenge, where artists were tasked to create artworks inspired by the quote “Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations” by Edward Sapir. This quote alludes to the relationship between imagery and language and how they work together both implicitly and explicitly to form a communicative engagement for the audience. All works were required to combine an audible component to fuse this play between imagery and language together. The artworks that best represented the main concepts of the show have been selected to create an engaging experience for you to connect with and enjoy.

深圳国际艺术家论坛ISZAF隆重推出一个以"话语”为主题的艺术展. 参展的14位国际艺术家的作品着重以语言、一个感受或现实为创作理念. ISZAF"话语"主题始于一个艺术创作挑战活动。它基于爱德华.沙比尔Edward Sapir的引语“语言是我们所知的最庞大和最具包容性的艺术，一个无意识到的世代无名的巨大杰作。”引语暗指图像与语言的关系，以及它们如何含蓄但又明确的结合在一起形成与观众的一个互动联系。所有的作品都要求具备音频元素，用图像与语言结合的方式来演绎。选出的作品均能很好的诠释这次展出的创作理念，使您充分体验到与这个主题的联系，并享受其。

Artists:

• Brittan Dean Aebischer
• Gloria Carnevale
• Lin Georgina Green
• Yelena Kirenna
• Catherine LeComte
• Maria Mogas
• Kumi Onari-Legault
• Andrya Perez
• Monique Smith
• Yvette Stride
• Guntur Timur
• May Wang
• Michael Williams
• Guandi Wu

Curated by: Gloria Carnevale,

Produced by: Brittan Aebischer (Lead Producer) and ISZAF

Press Links: TBA

Brittan Aebischer is an American artist and community arts leader, living and working in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of Southern China for over seven years. Working as a mixed-media artist, Brittan identifies his work through his 'personal "ontologies"' in philosophy and the human condition. Brittan believes in the power of conceptualisation to be the driving force when composing visual imagery and artistic experiences. His work is graphic, surreal, cathartic, and intellectualised; focusing on the reality, yet abstraction of the human experience.

Founding (ISZAF) International Shenzhen Artist Forum in fall of 2016 and currently the Co-Chair of ISZAF, Brittan desires to create a platform for all international aestheticians and artists of all disciplines to connect and collaborate within the GBA region of Southern, China. It is with this belief that he hopes to establish a stronger network and community of art professionals, providing greater economic viability and opportunities within China’s arts and culture industries.

Brittan holds a Bachelors in Graphic Design and a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT). He has over 7 years of arts education teaching experience, ages 9-18.

Artist Statement:

The image, the icon, the fleeting moments of memories, the abstraction of shape and line, all coalesce in the work by Brittan Aebischer. Focusing on the relativity of both the personal and shared memories, Brittan’s work utilises both assemblage techniques and mixed media on canvas to convey surreal and abstract picture-scapes; often depicting the nude form juxtaposed against ontological ruminations and distorted landscapes. Relying on the found object for direct inspirational links, each work created takes a life of its own in an often meandering and endless journey of color, texture, line, and abstraction. The object guides the artist through a journey, providing inspiration for the overall compositional structure. Brittan is a wanderer, often revealing literal and figurative objects found off the street, in book stores, in rubbish, or in his studio. It is this day-to-day process of collecting, thinking, and synthesising that brings light to Brittan’s technique of layering; each piece being constructed with at least 3 or more physical layers of canvas, paint, found objects, and ink. Though Brittan pre-determines the execution of each piece, the result is always unclear. Brittan states;

“The found object once placed within the composition, directly effects all the other elements within the piece. Inevitably, as each piece is added, it compounds the message and changes the direction of the work. Thus, I never know how the work will look in the end; that is a personal joy I have with my own practice.” Messy and yet controlled, Brittan’s picture making evokes a quiet uneasiness, often confronting the viewer with compounding questions that are unanswerable.  It is Brittan’s belief that art should evoke the true nature of humanity through the revelation and confrontation that all humans are imperfect, inevitably pointing us to the fact that it is our imperfections that is what gives us beauty, nothing else.

WeChat: bdaebischer
Instagram: abischerbd
Website: http://brittanaebischer.com/

Gloria Carnevale is an artist, designer, educator and speaker who has lived and worked in Shenzhen for the past seven years. She is a founding member of ISZAF and is currently the Co-Chair. Gloria works as the Head of the Arts Department for Visual Arts and Design at the International School of Nanshan Shenzhen (ISNS). She teaches senior level visual arts courses and is also qualified to teach design and technology.

Gloria holds degrees in visuals arts (BFA, Mount Allison Unversity), Design (Sheridan Institute of Technolgy and Advance Learning) and education (B.Ed, Brock University), and has worked as an educational and design industry professional for years. 

Gloria's artwork explores the themes surrounding the concept of identity, such as how relationships and surroundings collaborate to identify a person. She enjoys to incorporate both serious and satirical elements into her work, as well as manipulating repetition, bold colours and textures. 

Artist Statement:

The concept of “Identity” is commonly described as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”. I believe that it gives meaning to an object or person that makes it different from everyone and everything else: it is seen as an independent variable that belongs to a certain person, or to a group of people. My work explores many themes surrounding the concept of identity, such as how relationships and surrounding collaborate to identify a person. I enjoy incorporating both serious and satirical elements into my work. I also like to work with manipulating repetition, bold colours and textures.

WeChat: gloriacarnevale
Instagram: gloriacarnevaleart
Website: https://www.gloriacarnevale.com/

Lin Georgina Green

Lin Georgina Green is a California native who lives and works in Beijing, China and has teaching visual arts for nearly a decade. She holds a degree in Fine Art and Art History from California State University and in 2016 served on the board of ISZAF (iszaf.com) in Shenzhen. She often chooses to work in the grey-space between collaboration, performance and installation and finds that this liminality suits her best. Within the confines of her experience, a sense of intimacy is woven into her work that can only be experienced once before it is documented, discarded or left to be forgotten. Often time-based and repetitive, the artists' work asks to be shared as a rite of passage, connecting individuals in a visceral human experience. 

Artist Statement:

As an educator, I come into contact with various ideas and theories about how to best instill proper and expected behavior in young people. I've currently been tasked with facilitating "lunch-detention" and am oftentimes faced with the unpleasant job of dishing out this sentence to misbehaving students. I am solidly of the conviction that traditional forms of discipline are just not enough to encourage a child to reach their full potential and have decided to spend this time practicing meditation with my students. For this piece, I've utilized the hour-long detention to ask students to participate in a reflective activity of "writing lines"; a traditional form of punishment, re-imagined as a mindfulness practice.

During the past month, I've asked my students to volunteer to practice some mindful writing techniques using pen/paper to record the noise in their heads. They may journal about their experience, write letters to others, or simply do a free-association followed by a break and then reflection time together if they would like to discuss their experience.

While my students practice mindfulness, I work on another series of "lines" that connect me to my personal life. While I meditate, I focus on the many personal feelings I deal with as an expat living away from family, friends and loved ones. Contrary to what my students experience with their mindfulness practice, the lines I write are intended to be repetitive and brutal. For this installment in my series of "lines" I’ve called this piece... "I love you/I'm sorry". Visitors are encouraged to continue with lines of their own, meditating on the words written, for as long as they wish.

While contemplating the installation, please feel free to cover your ears for a short glimpse at what it might sound like when those you deeply care for eventually stop caring for you.

Yelena Kirenna

Kirenna is a Russian born and raised artist, based in in Shenzhen, China. Self taught photographer, she is currently exploring drawing with regular and digital pen. Curious about digital
tools and social media, Kirenna captures colours, textures and lines to express moods and reflect on ways digital world frames our behaviour.

Artist Statement:

This work has came out from working on the challenge hosted by ISZAF, International Shenzhen Artist Forum. This time it was "Language: perception or creation of reality".

Within the given parameters of the challenge, it set me on the thinking path. I toyed with the idea to draw on my linguistics education, to develop on the linguists relative hypothesis. How is it that a language can determine our thoughts, it is truly amazing!

A culture manifests itself in the language and it takes a variety of shapes, colours and moods. Having lived and worked in a multi cultural and language society,  I am always fascinated to come across individuals who either easily or struggle to assimilate into a new foreign environment.

In my research, I found a mind stretching question ‘Why do I think the way that I do?’ My self portrait series is my attempt to answer this. I particularly enjoyed this project, because it lets me integrate 'selfie' culture into my art.

Selfie "You and Me"

Viewers are invited to find a reflection in the mirror and ‘selfie’ fragments. One framed mirror adds interaction, movement, light and life.Much like you can't ever step in to the same water twice, there is never same image whenever you look. Viewers are invited to find a reflection in most or all mirrors. Possible no reflection or reflection of reflection. Using your smart phone, take picture of what you see, or rather of what your phone camera sees.The use of shutter sound is expected, as well as flash. Create the unique sounds, lights and shadows combinations. I invite the audience to send me their best shots. I will create a digital artwork, using fragments from first 100 entries. Credits to ALL names or social accounts will be made , please remember to include your name and social account details. Final work will be available on IZSAF site and mywebsite. Send in your photos on the same day you take in at the exhibition. Final artwork will be released 31 of May, 2019.

Fragility         
                                                           
This photographic series depicts the fragility of life and our inability to prevent death. In conjunction with this first message, each image individually represents one of the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The images guide the viewer through the emotional process of loss, using an egg as symbolism for a fragile life form.

Website: https://www.catherinelphoto.com/

Maria is an American artist and award-winning educator, who has been living and working in Shenzhen for the past two years.She holds a BFA with a concentration in sculpture, and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She has exhibited her work throughout Texas and in New York City’s art district, SoHo. Also, in her art career she has curated exhibitions for Blue Star Contemporary Art Center and The National Endowment for the Arts,’ Big Read in her home state of Texas. She is a member of the ISZAF administration team where she coordinates a lecture series featuring artists and art professionals. 

Artist Statement:

I think our use of language does create a reality, however that reality can only be a reflection, because I don’t think there is a true, genuine, pure reality, it’s different for everyone. Devine utterance cannot shape, reflect or create reality.

Instagram:maria_elena_botello_mogas

She is a Venezuelan artist who is constantly seeking for new, unusual and fascinating sensations through art. Admirer of figurative and minimalistic art. Andrya has got quite an open view towards art and mostly enjoys painting intense, linear abstract works with oil and/or acrylics.

Instagram: andrya.jpr

Monique Smith is an ar st and art teacher from New York, USA and has been living and working in China for 6 years. Language is used for communicate. For this challenge, I chose to draw people that I loveand communicate, love and laughter. Expressing the love, laughter and warmth of a child orthe love and communica on of brothers. With the sounds I have included, the audience can
understand what the people in the work are saying or at least the overall feeling of what isbeing communicated.

May Wang is a 40-year-old Chinese artist, born in Gui Yang, Gui Zhou Province, who lives and works in She Kou, Shen Zhen. Having no background in art, she has worked as a middle school English teacher, an English  translator for companies, insurance sales representative, and more. Finally at the age of 34, she began worked as an art assistant in the high school of Shen Zhen QSI International School. This became the start of her art journey.

She feels that the way she would like to communicate with others is better through art, through recording her daily life and her emotions into her artworks. No matter if they are happy or sad feelings, the artist wants to express them all as clearly as she can because they are meaning and precious in her life.

WeChat: 爱画画的魚

Michael Williams is an American artist and educator. He has lived in Shenzhen for 3 years and has been part of the ISZAF community for a majority of that time. Michael has spent most of his artistic career seeing the world behind a camera. His current artistic practices have incorporated watercolor, pencil and ink drawings, as well as mixed-media.

Michael holds a bachelor degree in hotel and restaurant management and a masters of arts in education (MAEd). His classroom may not be an art class but he believes that art should be infused into all learning, and as a result has a lot of artwork on display. Michael thinks actively creating art to tell a story or to explain a word or phrase helps connect the auditory and written part of learning to the visual in the minds of the learner.

WeChat: spaceman_mike
Website: michealwilliams.html

Guandi Wu has been self-studying art since 2017. In this, her first attempt at sculpture, she is interested in exploring how young people in China locate themselves in social life by using constantly emerging internet slang.

Artist Statement:

By swinging between self-mocking and mocking others (usually of a different social class/status), young people have found their own virtual tribes in an isolated world. They have found ways to console themselves by labeling themselves, and slowly become narcissistic. These new identifications and language used in the virtual world provide people with filters with which to see the real world, and make reality a bit more bearable. But can we still see the real truth and real selves anymore?

WeChat: guandi781483