Washington, DC
The Renwick Gallery’s biennial invitationals highlight mid-career artists pushing the boundaries of craft. According to curator Nora Atkinson, the 2016 edition, “Visions and Revisions,” focused on the “degradation of society and the reinvention and rebirth of it.” Featuring the works of four American artists—Jennifer Trask, Steven Young Lee, Norwood Viviano, and Kristen Morgin—the exhibition went beyond mere ruin porn to examine the meticulous processes of each individual artist. Trask’s delicate and astoundingly paper-thin flowers carved out of bone were among the most impressive works in terms of technical skill. Often embedded with gold and gold leaf, Trask’s morbid take on art deco juxtaposes the natural with the manmade. Atkinson described them as “an ode to vanitas…bone flowers emerging and nature breaking forth.” .…see the entire review in the print version of April’s Sculpture magazine.
