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Threshold mentioned in The Stranger
04.30.2010 Noteworthy, Threshold
Artist Ellen Ziegler’s current exhibit at Mithun’s Seattle office was noticed recently by The Stranger.
Ellen Ziegler’s ambitious drawing series evokes the visual and auditory hallucinations that occur during the period between waking and sleeping, known as the “hypnopompic state”.
Drawings are made on asphalt roofing paper (tar paper) with metallic pigments and other media. The smell of tar evokes for Ziegler the primeval ooze of the La Brea Tar Pits in her native Los Angeles, where dinosaur bones continue to be excavated. This underground source of fossils, fuel and prehistory is analogous to the upwelling of images from the unconscious mind.
The installation in the gallery stairwell alludes to the crossover between architecture and the work of the artist. Tar paper is a commonplace, unremarkable and “base” building material; Ziegler finds metaphorical richness in it by mining her psyche for associations. In addition, “its rough, black smelliness, cheapness, and endless linear dimension makes it a manic draftsperson’s dream.”
Ziegler is represented by SOIL Gallery, Seattle, Washington
THRESHOLD is a space for creative inquiry and exposure showcasing local and regional art in a variety of mediums. As architects, we believe art can influence and shape ideas in the built world. Of special interest is work that demonstrates innovative vision with an awareness of current issues. We choose to use our lobby as an ever-evolving transition space open to all kinds of circumstance and creativity.
THRESHOLD is open 8am-5pm…..Mon-Fri…..exhibitions cycle every 6 weeks
Artist Inquiry…..contact: cristinab@mithun.com
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