No Longer and Not Yet
Welcome to No Longer and Not Yet, an exhibition highlighting a variety of art works that represent true and lived experiences from 2020 and reflect creatively upon the artists’ thoughts, hopes, and frustrations.
Curated by Hasaan Kirkland, the exhibition attempts a visual solution to heal the hearts and minds of its local and global communities who are currently enduring psychological trauma, social unrest, loss of normalcy, and a contemporary version of the bubonic plague.
Curatorial Statement:
“With profound resilience and moments of weariness, John Affolter and the inspiring brilliance of the digital artists of No Longer and Not Yet—Cassie Arnold, Amy Usdin, Georgina Lewis, Jeffrey Smith, Quincey (Makayla) Miracle, Chelsea Wrightson, John Swartwout, Jeremy Davis, Ceci Cole McInturff, and Daniel Brickman—all have created a delightful, smart, and responsive spectrum of three-dimensional art that keenly investigates insightful ways of surviving the looming presence of the year 2020.
With an array of media from palm husk, hemp cord, steel wire, resin, fabric, string, colored pencil, and gold leaf, the eleven juror-selected local and national artists have passionately crafted a body of work that will be displayed both digitally online and at the local gallery Das Schaufenster, operated by German artist Anna Mlasowsky in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.
The Curator’s Choice artist John Affolter and his work Maga Ghost Flag deliver a compelling visual critique, metaphorically representing diverse ethnic citizens, a fragile American democracy, and the phantom-like absence of “accuracy” symbolized in the intentional absence of the American flag’s true colors: red, white, and blue.
No Longer and Not Yet visually responds to iconic philosophers Hannah Arendt and Vilém Flusser with contemporary statements that tell stories with harnessed sentiments, detailing the concept of the knowing “self” that either lifts the voices echoed in our collective humanity or becomes lost in the atmosphere of confounding social dynamics and historic constriction.
This exhibition is presented by Ken Winnick/Visual Cognetics and Goethe Pop Up Seattle, curated by Hasaan A. Kirkland/Kairos Industry LLC, and supported in part by a grant from 4Culture.
Hasaan A. Kirkland
fondly known by his students as “PK” was born in Bitburg, Germany. A son of a military family, Kirkland traveled and lived in various locations around the world contributing to his view of culture, art, education and the dynamics of social equity.
Kirkland’s career as an educator has included a path of critical thinking and program development, entrepreneurial pursuits, art and social justice, exhibitions and curatorial evolutions. His philosophy and approach to education, art making, community engagement, curating and business are always driven by a fascination with visual literacy, cultural social equity, research, student mentorship, service and dialogue. When those attributes meet, he believes learning happens, communication begins, and business can ensue.
Kirkland created his visual art company, Kairos Industry LLC. in 2010 and his Visual and Performing Arts Honor Society, Psi Rho Alpha (a 501 C3) in 2014. The thrust of his for profit and non-profit businesses and his position as an educator, artist, curator and servant are driven to empower, honor, and elevate others through and with art— teach, create, curate, and advocate.
Maga Ghost Flag
The No Longer and Not Yet Curator’s Choice artist John Affolter and his work Maga Ghost Flag deliver a compelling visual critique of the national media coverage regarding public announcements presented by the highest U.S. administrative leadership and its intentional absence of “accuracy”. Mirroring the noted absence of accuracy, Affolter’s Maga Ghost Flag is intentionally absent of its known red, white, and blue colors. Now, a powerfully reimagined American flag with hand-stitched canvas stripes and multi-colored stars metaphorically represents the many different ethnic citizens and fragile democracy that hold America together.
Ten artists were chosen by curator Hasaan Kirkland, Arabelle Liepold ( Goethe Institute) and Ken Winnick ( visual Cognetics). Below are the Images of their work and artwork Info.
Click on the Images to view larger versions.
Digital Artists
Daniel Brickman, Soft Follicle: Mixed media (monotube, rope, hot glue, sawdust, resin, oil paint)- 18” x 15” x 24
I produce objects that are at once vaguely utilitarian and yet purely aesthetic. I conceive the work as a hybrid of two- and three-dimensional work. Many of these works loosely reference instruments used in the almost ritualistic cleaning of one’s body and one’s home environment. Observance of these routines and rituals can be emotionally grounding for us and bring safety to our lives during these stressful times.
Ceci Cole McInturff, A Language Not Yet Spoken: Mixed media (sable palm husk, hemp cord, on steel wire from ceiling)- 10’ x 3.5’ x 3’
The aesthetic wabi sabi finds wisdom in things just as they are, challenging makers/viewers to say or perceive more while using less. This impacts my work. The Language Not Yet Spoken stands indefatigably for what is fair and needs protection yet acknowledges fears on many sides. It is creative, inclusive, healing.
Jeremy Davis, I’m Afraid of Dying: Resin, Steel- 30” x 40” x 5”
During this most dialectical of eras – a time of fear, antipathy, anxiety, and resignation – my work has taken on new meaning and urgency. My works express these dialectical realities as experienced in my own life.
John Swartwout, C/O (Care Of): Mixed media- 4.5” x 4.5” x 3.5”
Place can manifest itself in many forms from the apparent to the surreal. The home as a traditional place may have transformed into a place of comfort and at the same time arrest. In the piece “C/O” (care of) the tiny traditional ranch home is almost enveloped by an alien/microbial landscape. Although this is an unnerving scenario, the familiar traditional house with a bright calming color gives a sense of calm and peace, Home, and Place.
Chelsea Wrightson, A Future Full of Yesterdays: Mixed media (oil, colored pencil, plaster castings of single-use plastics)- 42” x 16” x 4”
A Future Full of Yesterday’s began as an alchemical shift from waste to altar; at once a reflection of our reverence for single-use materials and an imagined space of a world beyond their use and proliferation. This work contemplates questions that have arisen in me during Covid19: what do we need to give death to and what must be exalted after the wake? What more beautiful world unfurls in these mysteries? The scope of this work has expanded in service to shifts in the collective consciousness and in response to our collective grief.
Quincey (Makayla) Miracle, Martyr DIGITAL: Mixed media (Plaster, wood, red string, gold leaf)- 8’ x 10’ x 6’
My work is a self-reflective exploration of negative emotions stemming from ideas of nostalgia, perfection, and idealization. Through detailed craft and controlled destruction, my work utilizes the duality between fragility and brutality to reflect the precarious shift between stable and unstable mental states.
Jeffrey Smith, “L” “O” “S” “T”: 0” x 0” x 0”
Often profound places have been made for the remnants, refuse, rubbish, and rubble that surrounds us: “recyclables” that have an internal life ready to be discovered, less found than re-thought, less retrieved than re-interpreted. We press on, LOST, to some degree, but hopeful we can help find a way forward.
Georgina Lewis, Feral bag for hope: Mixed media (paper pulp, paint, graphite, rhinestones, gold pirate coin)- 11” x 14” x 19”
Over the past 8 months I have drawn a lot of circles. This repetitive act functions as a means of regulating breath but also has an undeniable link to COVID-19: virus shapes, air bubbles and blood cells. Before the pandemic I was reading about alchemy and magic and I think the objects I have made since look like crushed organs or battered alembics. The piece references blood, money, and disease but also change and hope. Science cures the body, but art can cure the heart and mind by focusing on problems and injecting needed ecstasy. It is complicated.
Amy Usdin, Thoughts and Prayers: Fiber- 64” x 23” x 20”
My work redefines aging fiber nets, considering the blurred space between entrapment and protection, especially pertinent as we confront our own conceptions of security in this difficult year. This shroud of “Thoughts and Prayers” is a response to performative compassion from those in power indifferent to the converging crises wrought by destructive health, environmental and social policy.
Cassie Arnold, Child’s Social Distance Sweater (6ft apart): Hand knit fine wool- 72” x 14” x 1”-
From the very beginning my partner and I have been hyper aware of how often we were telling our small children ‘keep your distance...stay 6 feet apart!’ If it has been hard on us adults, we can only imagine what this time is doing for our kids. Child’s Social Distance Sweater (6ft apart) reflects our best to stay healthy, keep others safe, and make this time as normal for our kids as possible.