Opening Reception: Dear Life | Erin Long Loganathan | Fri, Jun 26, 6-9pm

In "Dear Life," Erin Long Loganathan embraces the ugly-pretty of being human while working intuitively across painting, ceramics, embroidery, and assemblage. As a process artist, she approaches every lump of clay, scrap of fabric, and spontaneous mark as an opportunity to discover what the day, and life itself, might reveal. A scribble becomes a girl, a bell becomes a doll, and a broken object becomes something newly whole. Transformation is a method of making and a philosophy for living. A deep awareness of impermanence is also revealed. Flowers bloom and fade, fruits ripen and spoil, people arrive and depart. Throughout her work, lemons emerge as recurring symbols of hardship and sustenance, echoing the familiar adage of making something meaningful from the fate you are befallen. Plus signs also appear frequently. For Long Loganathan, these gestures are a form of meditation, a way of navigating mental health challenges and the unpredictability of contemporary life. Each + marks a happy thought and becomes a visual reminder to remain optimistic and recognize three good things that surround each difficult moment. Her ceramic figures, with their loose limbs and playful presence, reflect a commitment to preserving wonder and curiosity. Long speaks of becoming an artist in order to remain connected to the freedom of childhood, and these doll-like forms embody that spirit. Emerging organically through observation and intuition, they reveal the artist's belief that creativity often arrives from somewhere beyond conscious intention. Themes of healing weave throughout the exhibition. Drawing inspiration from the philosophy of kintsugi, the practice of repairing broken ceramics with gold, Long Loganathan considers how damage, grief, and struggle can become sites of beauty and growth. Cut fabrics are braided into new forms, fragments are reassembled, and imperfections are celebrated rather than concealed. Even her intentionally awkward or "ugly" moments acknowledge an essential truth: life itself is not always polished or beautiful, and art need not pretend otherwise. Underlying the work is a profound sense of interconnectedness. Long Loganathan reflects on Jay Carrier’s question, If we were hawks, what would the land look like below?, and the perspective described by astronauts who, recently seeing Earth from space, recognize the planet as a single shared home. From this vantage point, division dissolves and collective care becomes essential. References to women supporting women, motherhood, acts of resistance, and communal healing reinforce this belief that strength is often found through connection. Balancing sincerity with humor, tenderness with imperfection, "Dear Life" invites viewers to consider what sustains them through difficult times. Through symbols of repair, gratitude, and renewal, Long offers a hopeful proposition that even when life spins wildly beyond our control, there remains beauty in holding on, paying attention, and continuing to create something new from what has been given. This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of two friends and fellow artists, Jay Carrier and Muhammad Zaman, whose lives, work, and creative spirits continue to resonate deeply within the communities they helped shape.

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