Conscious Objects: Work by Cassie Marie Edwards, Sarah Knobel and Kate Shannon

Conscious Objects is an exhibition of photographs by Sarah Knobel and Kate Shannon and paintings by Cassie Marie Edwards. Their work intersects at the exploration of what happens when people, places and things are taken out of context. These manipulations of an understood reality present the viewer with a new, slightly off kilter, perspective of the everyday. All of their work utilizes hyper vivid colors and the isolation of subject matter to bring the “consciousness” of objects into singular focus.

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Edwards’ paintings focus on the subject of figurines; each painting is an isolated portrait spotlighting an individual figurine with minimal delineation of place utilizing bold color fields for background. These expertly rendered portraits infuse the figurines with life, giving them a sense of agency and personality. The resulting works do not shy away from narrative undertones of strange, comical and slightly discomforting. Cassie sees this body of work as “somewhere between still life and portraiture-it borrows from each, but doesn’t conform to either genre.”

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Knobel’s photographs are selections from her series titled Icescapes. For this specific series she utilizes a variety of tchotchkes, party items and other disposable objects we feel compelled to collect. She then puts these objects into molds and freezes them in ice. The photographs are taken during various melting phases of the ice. Throughout the process the synthetic materials begin to mimic natural formations, revealing a striking variety of textures, colors and shapes as the ice disintegrates. The work becomes “a challenge of perception, which disembodies each material from its know context” while simultaneously connecting the disposal with landscape. Sarah sees this body of work as “a study, a new way of identifying our relationship with the natural and synthetic materials that surround us.”

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Shannon’s photographs are selections from her series titled Within The Happy Crowd. This ongoing series features potential moments of joy that take place in amusement parks or fun fairs. She digitally strips away background elements from the original photographs. Leaving her subjects without the context of their spectacular surroundings, confronting the viewer with only longing gazes towards a prize to win, a thrill to experience, or a concession stand to visit. Her photographs are alluringly stark with the only jolt of color being found on her human subjects, further highlighting their presence as symbolic representations of desire, consumption, happiness and loss. Kate is “interested in what people look like when they are inside places that have been conceived of and constructed around the idea of selling enjoyment-exaggerated reflections of a larger consumer culture.”

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Cassie Marie Edwards received her MFA from Northern Illinois University and her BFA from University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. She currently lives and works in Oshkosh, WI. She has exhibited throughout the U.S. including solo shows at Greymatter Gallery in Milwaukee, Exposure Gallery in Sioux Falls, SD, and Deer Run Art & Artifacts in Cambria, California. She was also a featured artist on The Jealous Curator blog and in Frankie Magazine. This will be Edwards’s first exhibition in Minnesota.

Sarah Knobel received her MFA from the University of Cincinnati and her BFA from Texas State University, San Marcos. She is currently Assistant Professor of Art at Montana State University, Billings. She recently had an artist in residency at Yamanshi in Kofu City, Japan. Knobel has exhibited in numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally. The Washington Post reviewed her work twice and she has received numerous distinctions for her work, most recently she received the Cox Fellowship for outstanding junior faculty at Montana State University. This will be Knobel’s first exhibition in Minnesota.

Kate Shannon received her MFA at Ohio State University and her BFA from the University of Kentucky. She is currently associate professor of art at Ohio State University in Mansfield, OH. She is the recipient of the 2013 OSU Mansfield Campus Award for Excellence in Scholarship (along with numerous other grants and fellowships in support of her work), she has exhibited her creative work across the United States in over eighty exhibitions. Selected venues include Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH; the Zhou B Art Center Gallery in Chicago, IL; the Contemporary Arts Center in Las Vegas, NV; and TRACTIONARTS in Los Angeles, CA.

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Images courtesy of Rik Sfera.

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