Recurrence

Just as rivulets form when water traces a path between small indentations in earth and stone, patterns in artists’ practices emerge after repeated and persistent practice. 

Recurrence features six artists whose works reveal the enduring resonance of familiar patterns. Forms composed of recurring elements — whether in the form of materials, motifs, or concepts — inspire curiosity about the artists and the worlds they inhabit. And in the artist’s devotion to their practice and the resulting work, we observe the combined power of chance and preparation.

Our dedication to making and finding patterns as humans can sometimes reach extremes, bordering on the obsessive. An artist’s practice of creating repeated abstractions, or returning to similar themes and gestures day in and out, can also accumulate into personal narratives. Tielin Ding draws repeated marks and photographs repeated forms, reflecting on invisible systems within urban and natural spaces. For Julie Weiman, dyeing, assembling, and hand-stitching repurposed textiles and paper help her construct artifacts that are at various times methodical, compulsive, and poetic. YehRim Lee repeatedly re-fires her intricate handbuilt clay sculptures, introducing a new glaze each time until the surfaces begin to warp and crack, approaching collapse. In doing so, YehRim invites the viewer to travel with her across the bridges she must continually build in her life between Korea and the States. 

Similarly, Boramie Ann Sao’s paintings frequently meditate on identity. Her use of color and buoyant yet still forms let the viewer wonder whether the resulting work is meant to hide or reveal something beyond the surface. Samuel Schryver’s background in the Los Angeles subculture of graffiti writing is a foundation for his process and can be seen as an undercurrent in his paintings. Also included is a collaboration piece between Samuel and Sally French, whose dedication to painting is such that she sees it as a neverending stream of expression, interdependent with other artists and her environment. 

From the organized to the disorderly, from the meditative to the chaotic, from acts of observing to building and mending, Recurrence highlights the ways six artists choose to return to their practices, again and again.