Objects of Contemplation

Cathy Cunningham-Little • Lewis deSoto • Lisa Espenmiller • Sheila Ghidini • Dale Kistemaker • Alexandra Lederer • Penny Olson • Jenn Shifflet  

December 4, 2015 - January 28, 2016

Chandra Cerrito Contemporary is pleased to announce Objects of Contemplation, a group show that offers a counterpoint to the frenzy and commercialism of the holiday season. Sub-themes of memorial, meditation, and perception are explored through a variety of media. 

Lewis deSoto’s and Alexandra Lederer’s artworks serve as memorials, inspired by the passing of their fathers. DeSoto’s sculptural sound piece Zenith fills the gallery space with a hypnotic, intangible presence, while in Lederer’s The Weight of an Object, a cushioned pen on a pedestal is weighed down by the absence of a loved one. 

Akin to the practice of meditation, Sheila Ghidini creates gradated drawings in graphite and mica dust that read as inspirations and exhalations. Jenn Shifflet, whose ethereal works often relate to her meditation practice, employs a tedious process of sifting powdered glass into subtly shaded sheets fused with tiny glass balls. Lisa Espenmiller, also a regular sitter of zazen, translates in ink a single chant from The Tao, handwritten repeatedly on paper until a densely woven tapestry emerges—the words are obscured but rhythms appear. 

Playing with perception, in Penny Olson’s Wafer, what appears to be an almost holographic abstract image is derived from a photograph of discarded silicon wafers. Cathy Cunningham-Little’s Sunburst, a light box made with filtered neon, never resolves into crisp visual focus, triggering awareness of our own act of seeing. Conversely, Dale Kistemaker heightens our sense of attention through a vividly focused photograph of grasses, reminding us to look closely at the natural world. The wide-ranging works in Objects of Contemplation ask us to listen, look, and linger just a little longer.