Feature image: Image courtesy of Marquise Covington of ddimediagroup
Holding Space: Dreams, and Memories in Durham’s Ella West Gallery
Warm overhead lighting, sounds of soft jazz, an elegant charcuterie spread, and buzzing conversations greeted guests at Ella West Gallery’s opening reception last month. The new show, Holding Space: Dreams and Memories, features three contemporary artists: Isabel Lu, Julia Rivera, and Toni Scott. All three explore space in their work—who can occupy it, and how.
The gallery’s intimate atmosphere draws viewers in, perhaps embodying the concept of “holding space” by creating close, personal interactions between the viewers, each other, and the art. The gallery press release states, “Each artist creates a container to hold space not only for themselves but for an audience whose experiences may be either reflected or challenged by the stories contained on canvas.”
And the works do just this. Each body of work centers on a subject with a unique story, inevitably greeting viewers with their own perspectives, feelings, and ideas face-to-face. In this sense, the artists hold space for intimate conversations between the viewers and the subjects living within each canvas. Each artist uses a distinct style to spark these conversations, connections, and explorations for everyone willing to dive in.
ArtRKL spoke with artist Isabel Lu on opening night about their distinct style and ability to balance humor and seriousness through beautiful large-scale paintings.
“Humor is in the background of most of my pieces. I tend to explore serious issues like race, identity, and labeling. With my background in nutritional science and research, there is this pseudo-seriousness around it…But there is also a silliness with everything I do, and everything anyone does. I just think it's hilarious to paint people I know in 4x5 paintings mid-bite, eating food.”
They gestured to a painting titled Mì with Cheese and chuckled while saying, “This is my friend eating microwave noodles with cheese–I just think that is hilarious.
Lu paused for a moment and elaborated on the more serious side of Mi with Cheese,
“This work also explores queerness and identity. My friend is Vietnamese and queer. She shared with me that she felt a lot of embarrassment about not liking Vietnamese food growing up, even more so than coming out as queer to her family. When she was younger, her mom made a stir-fry noodle dish with vegetables and meat, but she didn't like it. So, she would request plain noodles and melt American cheese on them. This story resonated with me because my mom made a savory black bean noodle dish common in Chinese culture when I was growing up. I didn't love the dish back then, so I ate the noodles plain and poured ketchup on them. I think a lot of kids from immigrant backgrounds often don’t have the land, language, or culture to fall back on, so food is often the one thing we can connect to. If we don’t participate in that, then sometimes we feel like, 'Where is our place?'"
Across from Lu’s impactful portraits, artist Julia Rivera’s works respond with vibrant mixed-media depictions of people, plants, and abstract designs. During the reception, ArtRKL spoke with the gallery’s social media and web manager, Anica Green, who shared insights into Rivera’s body of work.
“Julia often talks about how her grandfather owned a plantain farm. Much of her work references that and the strong Puerto Rican women she grew up around. She has been told to remove the politics from her work to avoid compromising her career. To that, she says, 'I would not be making art if I didn't want to say something about the politics.’”
It becomes clear Rivera’s work is deeply informed by the rich culture and history of her grandfather’s plantain farm and the important women in her life from Puerto Rico, and, she is a recontextualizing art historian. Rivera incorporates classical training in 17th-century European painting restoration and the textured walls of New York City and the Bronx to shape her artistic voice. This textured mixed-media approach literally jumps off each canvas, grabbing attention as viewers lean in to take a closer look at the included hidden gems: measuring tapes, jewels, pencils, and buttons.
Alongside Lu’s portraits and Rivera’s mixed-media creations, artist Toni Scott brings another dimension to the insightful group show. Her perspective comes from a deep-rooted history, painted in deep shades of indigo blue. Her artist statement:
“Scott’s Indigo Series represents a bridge between the old world and the new, sanctified by the traditions of her Muscogee Creek, African, and African American ancestors. Each painting is described as a living prayer, the evocative mark making, and deep tonal hues call out for a meeting of the material and the spiritual and investment in lineages maintained by the ceremonial practice.”
The eye-catching shades of indigo drew individual viewers from the sea of people attending the opening. Encountering the portraits up close, one can feel the history and stories they hold within the space created for them by Scott.
“My mixed media portrait (indigo) is an homage to my African American ancestors. The color is both a metaphor for the seas and rivers over which they bravely journeyed; and to their enduring hope for deliverance and freedom. I painted with dark and light shades of blue to acknowledge the stormy seas and stormy lives they’d face, yet to remain certain of the healing nature of water and the value of their human rights.”
All three artists, in their work, embody the stories, spirits, people, places, and history of their lived experiences. Ella West Gallery also embodies this idea, located in the heart of Durham’s historic Black Wall Street. While each artist explored different concepts, they similarly pulled from their own experiences, claiming their space and holding memories close, exactly as they should.
At the end of the reception, we had a chat with gallery owner Linda Shropshire, who noted, “It’s important we hold space for ourselves and each other at every stage of our lives.” Indeed, Linda cultivated a place where the three artists felt inspired to hold space for themselves and visitors.
Holding space can mean many things. To me, it means showing up with curiosity, making time to listen deeply, and allowing yourself to ask questions without judgment toward yourself or the people around you–The exhibition perfectly captured this, creating an ongoing moment for people to learn, grow, and appreciate art.
The show will be on view through September 21, 2024. Be sure to hold space for yourself and these incredible artists, and see it for yourself.
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