The Folding of a Known World// Galleria Patricia Armocida, Milan, Italy // 11 April - 20 July, 2012

Galleria Patricia Armocida presents The Folding of a Known World, a collective exhibition by Swoon, Monica Canilao, and Dennis McNett, that opened on Wednesday April 11th 2012. Sixty medium and large-scale works were on display, including pieces created by the artists together. The figures were brought to life within the three room, site-specific installation throughout the gallery. The title stems from reflections on various stories about the creation, preservation and destruction of the world, along with their numerous myths and characters. Currents of thought with endless subtleties which, once discovered, cause the world as we know it to fold upon itself revealing a new one where anything is possible. With the intention of also highlighting a present-day issue: the world is in fact collapsing upon itself. According to scientists, the sixth mass extinction is imminent and human beings are its cause; we must acknowledge that we’re in danger and do something to reverse it.The three artists elucidated this through their works and the characters they’ve created: Thalassa, the goddess of the sea, Fenris, a giant wolf from Norse mythology, or the crows depicted on precious embroidered fabrics, animals have long since been considered intermediaries between the terrestrial and spiritual worlds. They build a temple which alludes to a world of supernatural powers, a mythological reality within which exists a dualism embodied by Kali, the mother goddess and goddess of destruction.“Folding" also literally refers to the action itself: the artists fold fabric and paper, creating a fantastic world inhabited by figures brimming with symbolic, personal, and emotional connotations. The works emit vital energy germinated from destruction, in perpetual transformation, creating a continuity with no starting point.

Monica Canilao creates new forms and intricate works with salvaged objects and weathered images. Her mixed media works, installations, and sculptures revitalize broken-down forms and celebrate the spirit of mutual aid, the idea of home, community and resourcefulness of marginalized peoples. She is fearless in her use of unconventional and found media. A new series with scavenged 19th century parlor portraits rebuilds narratives of forgotten lives using paint, copper, feathers, lace and other found materials. Using intricately layered organic and constructed materials, Monica’s pieces pay homage to traditional handicraft as well as fine art. She says of her work: “My art practice generates a personal and living history that can be altered and reconsidered. It is a mode of communication with others transcending distance, time, and place”.

Dennis McNett is known for his skillfully carved wood works. His roots plunge into the aesthetics of the early 1980s skateboard and punk rock scene, he draws from references that are modern and graphic, yet at the same time are imbued with ancient mythology and fairy tales from the Nordic culture, which inspires the intensely symbolic animals he depicts, such as wolves, leopards, crows, and eagles. Within his work, ancient and modern coexist, thus allowing viewers to come into contact with their ancestral side.

Caledonia Dance Curry, aka Swoon, was born in New London, Connecticut in 1978 and grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida. Swoon presents a socially aware view of the world that surrounds her through the representation of people, often anonymous, who give voice and visibility to a precise occurrence. At times she depicts friends or relatives, caught in a significant moment of their lives, immortalizing their souls which are often transformed into allegories. She carves portraits in linoleum, prints them on Mylar, recycled paper, or tracing paper, which once painted become a one-of-a-kind prints. She’s a master of using cut paper to play with positive and negative space in a conceptually driven exploration of the experience of the spaces her works are intended for.