Actual Scale

Kala Art Institute is proud to present Actual Scale, a group exhibition that explores visual discrepancies and disorienting shifts in scale with new works in photography, video, sculpture and drawing. Seven visual artists and a studio collective that includes three children, investigate the relativity of scale with images and objects that range from the highly miniaturized to the dramatically over-sized. The exhibition has assembled a group of artists approaching the topic of scale from a variety of diverse vantage points. The use of digital tools and technology is represented alongside works that feature a high level of hand-produced craftsmanship. Other unlikely pairings are works that investigate imaging based on detailed scientific study presented alongside works that are underscored by witty materiality and child-like playfulness. In combination the works in Actual Scale suggest that Alice might have exited Wonderland through a rabbit-hole and found herself inside a fantastical diorama climbing a mountain of children’s socks.

Joshua Band uses photography and digital tools to expand our experience of the landscape. Joshua creates elaborate photographic installations that pull real world images into a collision of two dimensional flatness and re-structured three-dimensional space where any sense of proportion and relational scale have been completely shattered.

Kevin B. Chen and Amber Stucke are both working at a highly skilled level of draftsmanship with their attention focused at opposite ends of the spectrum of scale. Kevin presents a series of drawings that offer up intricate views of urbanscapes that are so extraordinarily miniaturized and finely rendered that a magnifying glass accompanies each work. Amber Stucke essentially works in the reverse by examining microscopic scale with large scale results. Amber’s elegant large format drawings present vastly magnified scientific images of biological symbiosis that would normally be invisible to the naked eye.

Llewelynn Fletcher’s sculpture up-ends our sense of the physical body. The viewer is invited to enter into her sculpture, an over-sized costume of sorts, and experience how sound transforms the feel of the body in space. The bass speakers vibrate and resonate throughout the sculpture, making the physical space feel both vast and compact, skewing the relationship of expected scale.

Phil King utilizes laser cutting tools to fabricate a table-top tableau of simple everyday objects. Each object is actually produced at the correct scale, yet are crafted from non-functional materials such as paper and cardboard. Together Phil’s non-functional objects create an imaginative playground for the viewers to jump in and share their experience.

Renée Gertler explores our understanding of astronomy by creating sculptural models that are based on scientific diagrams. The work processes a witty humility that underscores the incomprehensible task of representing the vastness of our solar system and beyond.

Nadim Sabella meshes highly detailed iconic architectural models with photographic and video presentations that call into question authenticity and actual scale. Much of Nadim’s small scale constructed realities are facing looming disaster, yet in a photograph it’s difficult to ascertain if the image is genuine or a fabrication.

Verdstein Studio is a family-based collaborative project headed by video artist Ellen Lake. Ellen, her partner Chris Green and their children Sam, Josie and Ruby investigate the private world of childhood. Verdstein Studio presents a series of photographs and video documentation sharing secret miniature worlds.

Please join us for a Gallery Conversation with the Artists on Saturday, March 16 at 2:00 pm. The event is free of charge and open to the public.