The SHADOW BOX
With a new gallery space, Faith J. McKinnie understood her role and responsibility in creating more room for emerging curators of color. Within the gallery is a 200 square foot room that she has dedicated to a new curatorial residency. This residency will provide the space to a guest curator to develop a proposal, work with local & regional artists, and develop public programs.
Genesis Torres will be our guest curator from 3 December 2021 through 26 March 2022.
Curator Statement
"The Shadow Box is a contemporary art space that serves as an intimate experience between the artist and the dynamic Sacramento art community by showcasing a survey of their artistic and conceptual practices. The Shadow Box aims to be an art space that allows Sacramento artists a place to share their innovations with the public in one of the most stunning gallery spaces in Downtown, Sacramento. The roster of creators showcasing at The Shadow Box are artists that are currently shaping the Sacramento art scene in new and intriguing ways."
heavier than air
SUMMER VENTIS February 16 – March 26, 2022
"On March 13th, 2020, Sacramento State, where I teach, announced that all classes would be virtual for the remainder of the spring semester. That same day, my father was admitted to the hospital 3,000 miles away with COVID-19. This convergence of events very clearly marked the beginning of the pandemic for me. On April 11, 2020, after 29 days in the ICU, my father died of complications from COVID-19. The piece 29 Held Breaths represents each of those 29 days as a breath-filled balloon printed with an image that visualizes the act of physically holding a breath. The horrors of our times; of the pandemic, of racism and police brutality, and of the wildfires that happen with increasing frequency and intensity in the Western United States, all connect to the figurative, and sometimes very literal, act of breathing. Between March 13, 2020, and the first day of this exhibition, a total of 705 days have passed; almost two years. During that time, we have all felt the weight of grief in some way, the heaviness of existence in these ever-changing times. But if you are reading this, you, like me, have continued to breathe in and out, to move from one day to the next.
Through this project, Heavier than Air, I invite you to consider with me that weight of grief, of the losses that we have sustained collectively and individually over these last 705 days, to take a moment to feel that grief and to feel the relief of sharing it, of externalizing it as a “held breath” and knowing that others are sharing that weight by doing the same.
To participate:
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Take a bag from the wall.
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Remove the balloon from the bag.
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Consider for a moment what has felt heavy for you in the last two years.
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Blow up your balloon.
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Take a picture of your hand holding your balloon and upload it using the link accessible through the QR code on this page.
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I will collect and compile these images on a website and in a zine. By submitting your image, you agree for it to be included in this project.
Thank you. I’m glad you’re here."
Artist Bio
Summer Ventis’s work uses the printed surface to address internal and external landscapes and their intersections; the imprints we leave on each other and our surroundings and the imprints that our surroundings leave on us. She received a BA in Art from Grinnell College and an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her work has appeared in national and international exhibitions and is held by collections including those of the Denver Art Museum and Proyecto ’ace in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a member of the Colorado-based collectives Hyperlink and ARTNAUTS and of Sacramento-based Axis Gallery and is Assistant Professor of Printmaking at California State University Sacramento.
BICAMERAL ETHER
Ember de Boer January 29 – February 13, 2022
"The Bicameral Ether is a state of mind; an endeavor in introspection, an assessment of the consciousness. Exploring sculptural self-portraiture through abstraction, this installation emphasizes the structures that repeat throughout my studio practice. External structures protect us, and envelope our experiences; yet internal structures create the fiber of our relationship to the outer world. This liminal space represents the ether inside of my head, on the outside of my mind. A defensive structure, and an inner life; processing the primal experience of being alive."
Artist Bio
Ember de Boer is a multidisciplinary sculptor, her studio practice is inspired by an inclination toward geometric form, the deconstruction of materials, and an obsession with texture. De Boer was born and raised in Kansas City and is graduating this Spring with a BFA in Sculpture with a Minor in Philosophy at CSU Sacramento. Beginning her career with over ten years in painting that morphed into a dynamic sculptural practice; De Boer’s career has been enriched by working in industrial settings, learning craftsmanship through labor and trade. Recent accomplishments include being the current President of IMPACT (Individuals Motivating Progress Across Community Together), an active member to WEAD artist collective based in Oakland, an Emerging Artist Showcase at Arthouse on R, and first place in the 2021 Student Award Show at CSU Sacramento.
OPUNTIA
Maria Mariscal January 8 – January 23, 2022
"Opuntia is a showcase of my year-long exploration of the prickly pear cactus, or what is referred to in Spanish as the “nopal”. Themes covered in this exhibition include the exploration of the subject’s form through different visual recreations and analyzing the relationship between the nopal and various aspects of Mexican culture. Topics discussed in the work include my identity, immigration, and the relationship between Mexican culture, feminism, and queerness. This exhibition is a small part of a continuous body of work that will continue to explore these topics through the use of Mexican iconography."
Artist Bio
Maria Mariscal is a Chicana Multidisciplinary Artist who was born, raised, and is based in Sacramento. She earned her BFA in Studio Art Methods with an emphasis in Sculpture at Sacramento State University in 2021. Some of her achievements include reviving the prize for the R.W. and Joyce Witt Art History Competition for her writing on Chicana artists from the Chicana Movement. Mariscal's most recent accomplishments include a solo exhibition at the CSUS Union Gallery and a showing at the Faith J McKinnie Gallery in The Shadow Box.
Walls Translate Identity
the Mayor December 3 – December 19, 2021
Walls are more than an external structure; they create the narrative of how we perceive our environment. Walls create the space needed to develop the relationships we have with others and ourselves. The difference between an alley wall and a gallery wall is in the difference in how we perceive fine art. As an artist, I want to blur those boundaries and allow the community to voice those critiques instead of the monopolized institutions. I began to use my pseudonym the Mayor to be the reminder of the change I wanted to see in what is considered “the art world” versus what is considered the art community. I invite the community to disrupt my work in the nature of my previous duct tape murals that were subject to vulnerability and intervention. The public will have access to paint markers to add any expression or mark on the walls or objects found during this exhibition. I want walls to be given a voice and meaning that can be applied beyond the value of property taxes and monetary value. The use of social practice allows the community alongside the artist to reflect on what identity means in the structure of space and allows permission to express those ideas in a safe environment.
Artist Bio
Genesis Torres, who goes by the pseudonym the Mayor, has worked with many Sacramento communities and institutions, such as, the California Society of Printmakers, Myrtle Press at the Verge Center of the Arts, I.M.P.A.C.T, Peach House Presents, Dwellpoint, Northern California Arts, Inc and Sacramento State University. His work has been archived by private collectors, the Bancroft Library, Crocker Art Museum, Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement, and Sacramento State University. To view his work contact the Faith J. McKinnie Gallery for an appointment.
Exhibition schedule
the Mayor December 3 – December 19, 2021
Maria Mariscal January 8 – January 23, 2022
Ember de Boer January 29 – February 14, 2022
Summer Ventis February 16 – March 6, 2022
