Beginning Sept. 6, the thesis exhibition of textile-based sculptor Elise Deringer, “Perception and Passage,” will be displayed at the Harry Wood Gallery on Tempe campus. Through the use of filters and containers, the exhibition confronts and explores a permeable, imperceptible border as a place where differing states of mind and being are able meet and turn into something new.
During Deringer’s study in the ASU’s Fibers program since 2008, the MFA candidate became interested in filters and the relationship between preserve and discard. She also started addressing the surface of textiles and silk.
According to associate professor of ceramics Sam Chung, who is on Deringer’s thesis committee, “She uses fibrous materials to create a variety of container forms, which physically try to contain various materials such as sand or salt. The materials have a porous, translucent quality and there is a sense that the materials inside are not permanent, but rather in a state of flux. They are analogous to the idea of the transformation of self.”
The development of these pieces has been gradual; the earliest work in the show comes from late 2009, the next oldest piece is from mid to late 2010, and everything else is from 2011. As Deringer said, “There's a lot of evolution happening between works — the roots are connected, but the perspective/manifestation shifts over time.”
In describing her work, Deringer expressed it as her attempt to process the intangible. Explaining what her pieces are about, Deringer said, “The seeking, the changing, the way I am slowly able to recognize shifting in myself and understanding the philosophical quandaries that are pretty fundamental to human nature.”
Deringer attempts to tackle these concepts with the question, “How do I navigate the simultaneous, conflicting desire to hold onto and let go of [something, someone, an idea, a place] at the same time?” Chung also said of Deringer, “The unique thing about Elise's work is how poetically she uses materials to talk about ideas of transformation of the self. You can see both a sense gracefulness and struggle within her work.”
The exhibition will be from Sept. 6-16, and the opening reception is Sept. 6, 2011 from 6-8 p.m.
Reach the reporter at mgrichar@asu.edu
