Booth 7.02
For NADA Miami 2021, Rebecca Camacho Presents is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of new works by Sahar Khoury and Christy Matson.
With clear indications of hand and process reflected in the finished works, Sahar Khoury creates sculptures outside of structured methodology. Using materials such as ceramic, concrete, steel, paper textile mâché, resin, cloth and leather to construct individual units that are puzzled and bolted together, the artist bypasses the traditional center of object making and inhabits a unique space that is aesthetically raw and purposefully unruly while also formally elegant, pure and emotionally beautiful.
An Oakland CA based artist, Khoury is a first generation American of Arab/Iranian/Muslim immigrants. She consistently infuses her practice with a larger social and political dialogue, whether visible – the utilization of found or recycled objects to create recognizable cultural reference points; or discreet – the layering in of personal mementos, indistinguishable notations of time and place. These symbols are portals to her understanding of how imperialism and resistance coexist.
Khoury’s sculptures prioritize distortion over function and take pleasure in moments of material chaos. Transforming discarded materials into sculptures animated by freewheeling experimentation and individual narrative, Khoury embraces a practice of creative repair.
In a pairing of both historic and structural significance, Sahar Khoury’s two-dimensional relief and three-dimensional freestanding sculptures are shown with Christy Matson’s woven tapestries.
Christy Matson’s work challenges a tired narrative about tapestries and expands the definitions of both textile and painting. Employing a hand-operated, computer-programmable Jacquard loom to create intricate weavings to which she applies unconventional fiber techniques such as paint and layered composition, Matson’s work captures the beauty, necessity, and tedium of domestic labor. Through the duality of the machine and the hand, Matson reflects on the history of weaving in conjunction with art historical approaches such as geometric abstraction and collage.
Matson’s works frequently center on domestic pattern. Grids provide a structural foundation, directly and metaphorically. A classical artistic framework to achieve proportional accuracy, the grid is also the base of many conventional household textiles. Rooted in the micro-power of work customarily done by women, particularly with regard to the unpaid labor often performed by a mother or wife within a family and household, the grid structure serves as a visual translation of tangible limitations.
To this deliberate base Matson inserts painterly gestures and plays with dimension and composition. Tightly focused on contrasts in material and texture, slight alterations in line and palette compound as singular textiles develop or panels are collaged together. These expertly nuanced shifts beget wholes permeated by an undulant breath and fluidity, their humanity in contrast to the confines Matson sets for creation.
Sharing an intimate space at NADA Miami 2021, the close conversation of Sahar Khoury and Christy Matson’s work is pervasive. Rooted in their own singular experiences and aesthetics, the rich and varied histories of each artists’ practice carry strongly gendered associations. This overlap creates a fundamental connection that is heightened by specifics of the works of these particular women; a shared sensibility in mark of hand, experimentation, the nuance in freedom versus restraint, a rigorous attention to detail, a commitment to natural and recycled materials, a strong connection to color, shape and form. Sahar Khoury and Christy Matson both embrace traditional modes of making with eyes on the past, present and future.
