Beginning October 5, 2023, and running through October 29th Fountain Street Gallery will exhibit “Undercurrents,” bringing together the work of sculptors Virginia Mahoney and Nathalie Miebach. The exhibition takes the viewer below the surface of its bright geometry and ribboned remnants and beyond the embedded language of data and text. “Undercurrents” draws us deeper, into the corporeal, layered complexity of human experience with its mysteries and precarity. Mahoney’s specter-like figures, which evolved out of crushed and reclaimed old work, elicit the sensations and subtexts of human narratives. Their presence is an enigma, both assertive and ambiguous, their hand-stitched words and phrases twisting and questioning the labels we use to describe who we are, what we do, what we believe. For Miebach, the aftermath of weather disasters, and the subsequent struggle to adjust and rebuild, bring into focus the lived ordeals of climate change. While her sculptural weavings and wall installations are based on scientific methodologies and data, they evoke a visceral understanding of this looming crisis.
Virginia Mahoney scans the undertow of human interactions, examining the disparity between surface
appearances and underlying consequences. With complex, intricate forms and materials, her figures probe autobiographical stories and question accepted narratives. As she uncovers possibilities in the scraps, shards, and leftovers of a longstanding studio practice, her voice emerges in the rhythm of stitches, provocations of language, and discovery of new forms.
Nathalie Miebach makes work that seeks to better understand the science behind extreme weather events
and the complicated human responses that ensue. Of particular interest is how communities adapt / rebuild after a weather disaster. Using the methodologies and processes of both art and science, Miebach translates data related to ecology, oceanography and meteorology into woven sculptures, installations and musical scores. Central to this work is her desire to explore the role visual aesthetics play in the translation and understanding of climate change.
