Original Exhibition Text:

Each of the artists in Making is the Mirror possess a curiosity that frees them from allegiance to (reliance on?) a single mode of production. Whether investigating historical moments, ways of remembering, or strategies of framing vision, the work in this exhibition is the result of exhaustive research into a variety of archives. One could be forgiven for wondering why these artists take on the task of making new objects and experiences when they have amassed enough historical and biographical information on their subjects to fill a book that would be fascinating on its own. The answer lies in the space that is opened up for subjectivity through the process of making. Poet Frank Bidart offered an eloquent articulation of this urge when he wrote that, “Making is the mirror through which we see ourselves.”

The projects on display in this show reflect rigorous processes of inquiry and labor. As Hargrave constructs an historical flag by hand, she gains a special type of knowledge that is otherwise unattainable, but she also makes an object in which she is as present as the facts and narratives that guide her re-creation. Throughout this exhibition, artists reorient subjects that feel familiar through their chosen methods of production while also inviting viewers to think of history, memory, and experience as pliable materials with which to be engaged.