September 2018
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION
Julia Sebastian & Christy Wittmer
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION
Julia Sebastian & Christy Wittmer
Julia Sebastian
Artist Statement
My work is a material experimentation in uncovering what constitutes our built environments. We buy and build pots and chairs that had material lives before we met and will continue in some material form after we are no longer together. We fill our spaces with plants that once belonged to the earth. Landscapes hang on walls waiting to transport us to green space within our houses of concrete and drywall. We mix and match, reorganize, reclaim furniture, and re- contexualize objects as they drift in and out of our lives. Material concealing and lost histories is our jam. We design spaces for our comfort and ask materials and objects to collaborate in providing the optimal pleasing vibes all the time. Our constructed comfort is steeped in complex historical conversations and rich material identities that speak loudly while we relax and drink tea.
My work blatantly complicates our expectations of how material combinations collide and reverberate throughout their space. The goal of my work is to shake our brains to reconnect with the power of spaces. Spaces are where we spend all our time, and are political, cultural, and deeply personal areas that define the actions and conversations that take place within them. This fact is why material sensitivity is so vital. Being sensitively engaged with your environment leads to the magical realization that all materials and spaces affect and engage our bodies and brains through defining material moves on a daily basis.
Christy Wittmer
Artist Statement:
Shaped by a desire to observe how materials interact, my work is a question: What is going on
here? Balancing experimentation with skilled craft I create sculptures and installations that
challenge expectations of function and notions of stability.
Many of my sculptures begin as experiments with the materials at hand. I play and take risks,
often thinking “I wonder what will happen if I do this?” The work created becomes the answer.
Then I curate the results of these experiments into sculptures. Arranged, assembled and stacked
the work is held together by the weight of one object supporting another. I am aiming for a kind
of tenuous stability that engages body awareness and incites curiosity and a desire to investigate
the nuances of color, texture and material.
Artist Statement
My work is a material experimentation in uncovering what constitutes our built environments. We buy and build pots and chairs that had material lives before we met and will continue in some material form after we are no longer together. We fill our spaces with plants that once belonged to the earth. Landscapes hang on walls waiting to transport us to green space within our houses of concrete and drywall. We mix and match, reorganize, reclaim furniture, and re- contexualize objects as they drift in and out of our lives. Material concealing and lost histories is our jam. We design spaces for our comfort and ask materials and objects to collaborate in providing the optimal pleasing vibes all the time. Our constructed comfort is steeped in complex historical conversations and rich material identities that speak loudly while we relax and drink tea.
My work blatantly complicates our expectations of how material combinations collide and reverberate throughout their space. The goal of my work is to shake our brains to reconnect with the power of spaces. Spaces are where we spend all our time, and are political, cultural, and deeply personal areas that define the actions and conversations that take place within them. This fact is why material sensitivity is so vital. Being sensitively engaged with your environment leads to the magical realization that all materials and spaces affect and engage our bodies and brains through defining material moves on a daily basis.
Christy Wittmer
Artist Statement:
Shaped by a desire to observe how materials interact, my work is a question: What is going on
here? Balancing experimentation with skilled craft I create sculptures and installations that
challenge expectations of function and notions of stability.
Many of my sculptures begin as experiments with the materials at hand. I play and take risks,
often thinking “I wonder what will happen if I do this?” The work created becomes the answer.
Then I curate the results of these experiments into sculptures. Arranged, assembled and stacked
the work is held together by the weight of one object supporting another. I am aiming for a kind
of tenuous stability that engages body awareness and incites curiosity and a desire to investigate
the nuances of color, texture and material.
Julia Sebastian is a Cincinnati-based artist who received an MFA from the University of Cincinnati, DAAP and a BA from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY. In 2015, Sebastian held a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. Sebastian has taught at the University of Cincinnati and Antioch college, and is currently a Professor of Art at
Northern Kentucky University.
Northern Kentucky University.
Christy Wittmer earned an MFA from the University of Cincinnati and a BFA from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She has participated in residencies at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada, at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China and at the Kohler Company in Sheboygan, WI. In 2016-17 Wittmer was awarded a Fulbright grant to study traditional and contemporary ceramic practices in Jingdezhen, China. Wittmer’s work has
been exhibited nationally and internationally. She currently lives and works in Phoenix, AZ.
been exhibited nationally and internationally. She currently lives and works in Phoenix, AZ.
For inquiries contact the artists directly:
juliasebastian.com
www.christywittmer.com
collaborative Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/material_gyrations/
juliasebastian.com
www.christywittmer.com
collaborative Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/material_gyrations/