Devotion Gallery presents: ShearGlory, A group exhibition for Carrie Mae Rose & Elena Rose Ailes

Opening March 11th, 2011 7-9pm. Until April 3rd, 2011.

ShearGlory is as sharp as it is soft. Carrie Mae’s sculptures and couture costumes are made of confiscated scissors from airport security and other potentially dangerous recycled objects. She shares this space with artist Elena Ailes, creator of felted storm clouds, quiet photograms and pencil drawings. The two artists share an aesthetic language, full of totemic mystery, circular logic and beauty. 

Greatly inspired by Hindu yantras and Tibetan mandala sand paintings, Carrie Mae Rose has come to believe that just like a pure resonant note shatters a glass, a visual imprint of beauty and perfection changes the viewer. Her circular sculptures hold an essence of the macrocosm and microcosm, bringing harmony on an archetypal level.

Elena’s newest work is of felted cloud-like structures. Grey, black and white wool are blended together to create ‘storm clouds’, each one distinct and perfect, stitched together into larger tapestries and embellished with embroidery. These tapestries are intended to be low hanging skies within the gallery itself; hung low, manipulating the viewer into a hunched or stooped position. This body of work mixes the visual language of science and craft. It is informed by the most personal struggles and desires, as well as arcing philosophical inquiries and the purity of form, light and space.

Carrie Mae Rose 
Artist statement:
Carrie Mae Rose is a sculptor and interactive installation artist creating on the convergence of fine art, fashion, technology and performance. She builds and make sculptures and wearable items out of confiscated scissors from airport security and other potentially dangerous recycled objects. It is her vision to create a series of devastatingly beautiful couture costumes that will soon include sound and movement interactive through embedded and interactive technology and electrical currents.

For over 10 years, she has been working with the theme of personal and national protection and how it is manifesting in our current cultural epoch. Asking questions such as: What brings people a feeling of safety and protection? ...does armor and protective clothing and do security measures at airports? ...does meditation and spiritual connection?

Greatly inspired by Hindu yantras and Tibetan mandala sand paintings, Carrie Mae Rose has come to believe that just like a pure resonant note shatters a glass, a visual imprint of beauty and perfection changes the viewer. Her circular sculptures hold an essence of the macrocosm and microcosm, bringing harmony on an archetypal level. It is also her belief that just as a flower's petals open and reflect celestial realms in their vibrant colors, particular shapes and scents - so fashion and costumes are our personal human petals, reflecting and holding our own individual archetypes.

Bio:
Carrie Mae was born, in 1975, on 100 acres of land in rural West Virginia, in a log cabin built by her folks. She resided there until she was a toddler and then moved north to small-town Ravenna & Kent, Ohio. At 19, life adventures took her to Prescott, Arizona where the desert beauty awoke her creativity. Carrie Mae began working with desert growing agave plant, beads and endless circle forms. For many years she sought secluded swimming holes, spread into desert vistas, slept under dazzling skies, danced beneath glorious sunsets and played with her dog, Amazing Grace.

Carrie Mae began exhibiting her artwork in Prescott, Jerome, Winslow, and Phoenix, Arizona before moving to New York City in 2007. Carrie Mae’s dynamic background places her in a unique position to blend together fine art, performance, fashion and technology. She studied and performed Butoh with Diego Pinon and acrobatic stilt walking with The Carpetbag Brigade Physical Theater Company. She assisted wearable artist, Latifa Medjdoub in San Francisco and jewelry designer Joomi Lim, in New York City. Her recent studies in the field of interactive technology bring a breadth of understanding for building new multi-media costumes and installations. Carrie Mae Rose holds a M.F.A. in Design and Technology from Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, and a B.A. from Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona. She currently lives and works in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.

Elena Ailes 
Artist statement:
In my work I create physical structures that allow an idea to organize itself within a specific form. I allow the natural patterns of the materials used and the physical act of ‘making’ to inform the evolution of the work. I like to think of my work as a conversation between two systems, the first of which is myself as an organism with a specific history and set of values, the second system being a set of physical limitations, rules and materials that have been decided beforehand. My motivation as a maker--and, well, as a person--is to impart ‘of myself’; to challenge the parts of my intellect or spirit that seem tight or underused, to provide a place for wonder, play or exploration for viewers and collaborators.

My newest work is of felted cloud-like structures. Grey, black and white wool are blended together to create ‘storm clouds’, each one distinct and perfect. I hand stitch together these clouds into larger tapestries and further embellish them with embroidery. These tapestries are intended to be low hanging skies within the gallery itself; hung low, manipulating the viewer into a hunched or stooped position. Eventually, I’d like to create ‘atmospheric pressure’ though the use of sound, light and physical space.

Clouds and light are the evolving features of our daily skies. I have begun to explore how my manufactured clouds interact with light. As a record these interactions, I’ve started cataloging each of my felted clouds as a cyanotype photogram.

This body of work mixes the visual language of science and craft. It is informed by the most personal struggles and desires, as well as arcing philosophical inquiries and the purity of form, light and space.

Bio:
Elena Ailes was born on the fourth floor of Presbyterian hospital in Albuquerque in September in 1981. Elena’s mother reports being unable to reach the television mounted at the ceiling, and thus spent much of her labor watching reruns of Kung-Fu. Simultaneously, thousands of miles away, Simon and Garfunkel were performing at a free concert in Central Park attended by half a million people. This was the first concert they performed together in a decade, overcoming conflicts in their friendship and artistic process.

Elena received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico in 2004. She had the great honor of working closely with photographers and artists such as Patrick Nagatani, Jim Stone and Joyce Neimanas. Elena has continued to work in the arts as a curator, exhibit designer and production assistant for a number of nationally and internationally exhibiting artists. She has also been working in the wine industry as a Sommelier since 2010. She recently relocated from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Brooklyn, NY. Although she is thrilled with the move, this is probably why she keeps making work about grey skies.