March 2–April 11, 2015

TACOMA, Wash. – University of Puget Sound’s Kittredge Gallery celebrates the work of recent graduates in a show titled Between Chance and Control, on view in the Small Gallery this spring. The exhibition was curated by Luc Sokolsky, a 2014 graduate in art history.

Last year, after several weeks in Budapest studying contemporary art, Sokolsky met up with fellow Puget Sound graduates Haley Andres ’14, Abbie Baldwin ’14, and Kristan Shuford ’14. The three women worked and studied in Leipzig, Germany, part of a two-month residency at Halle 14, a nonprofit contemporary art center. Observing their work and other Halle 14 artists, Sokolsky began to develop ideas for an exhibition in Kittredge Gallery.  

The transition from university student to member of the workforce is one that is anything but clear. Yet, the Halle 14 residency allowed Andres, Baldwin, and Shuford to ponder their identities as artists and future careers. It allowed them for the first time to stress individual creation above all else. The works on view at Kittredge Gallery represent the most serious time these artists have spent as artists—without scholarly obligations, work, or assignments to guide their processes.

 

The artistic agency guides the works of each artist through a process of abandoning and reclaiming. Haley Andres is a painter who is deeply concerned with her process. Her abstract paintings relay the delicate balance of control between the artist and the materials she uses. Marks waver between self-designated and material dictated, leaving room on the canvas for chance aesthetics as much as Andres’ own intuition.

Abbie Baldwin is a printmaker and sculptor whose work in Leipzig revolved around chance and agency in an entirely different manifestation than Andres. Rather than use the canvas to explore her process, Baldwin took an introspective approach to understand what it meant to her, personally, to be an artist. Her work fashions sculptures and collections out of founding materials collected around Leipzig, taken from their scattered locations and put back together, guided by her own realizations.

However, it is not always the artistic identity that guides the creation, as seen through Kristan Shuford's work. Shuford’s passion for dance greatly influences her canvases, sculptures, and performance pieces. The human body's movement itself influences marks, forms, and colors, sometimes with dance directly touching the final piece.

These artists should explore issues of chance and control in Leipzig. Located in Southeast Germany, Leipzig was the site of several peaceful demonstrations leading up to the Berlin Wall fall. Just 25 years ago, it was a town nearly devoid of contemporary art and freedom of expression. Today, it is home to the Spinnerai; a massive cotton mill converted into a cultural center, housing restaurants, studios, and art galleries—including Halle 14. For Andres, Baldwin, and Shuford, the Halle 14 residency offered the chance to be a part of this legacy, where taking artistic control is so valuable.

A gallery talk on the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, March 11, from 4 to 5 p.m., followed by a reception from 5 to 7 p.m., both in Kittredge Gallery. This reception is free and open to the public. The exhibition’s curator, Luc Sokolsky, and artists Abbie Baldwin and Kristan Shuford plan to attend.

Kittredge Gallery serves as a teaching tool for the art department and a cultural resource for both the university and the community, exhibiting work by noted regional and national artists. Exhibits and talks are free and open to the public. Please note: The gallery is closed Monday, March 16, through Sunday, March 22, for spring break.

Opening Reception:
March 11, 5 to 7 p.m., Kittredge Gallery

Gallery Location: the University of Puget Sound, N. 15th St. at N. Lawrence St., Tacoma, WA
Directions and Map: pugetsound.edu/directions
Regular Hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Mon.–Fri.; noon–5 p.m., Saturday 
Website: pugetsound.edu/kittredge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KittredgeGallery

Photos on page: Top right: The three artists (from left): Abbie Baldwin ’14, Kristan Shuford ’14, and Haley Andres ’14; Above left:  The Leipzig residency building. Photo credits: Luc Sokolsky