Solo Exhibition: Christopher M. Tandy
SJÁ: GHØSTS
Dates: October 3 - October 31, 2020
Reception: Saturday, October 3 | 11 AM - 7 PM
Virtual Artist Talk: October 15th | 5 PM
Glass Rice is proud to present SJÁ: GHØSTS, Christopher M. Tandy’s sophomore solo exhibition with the gallery. SJÁ:GHØSTS is the third chapter of an overarching collaborative project called SJÁ. Taking its name from the Icelandic word for “see”, SJÁ is a continuously evolving and expanding project that seeks to explore new ways of presenting and experiencing reality.
In SJÁ: GHØSTS, a hanging sculpture entitled In the Silence (Everything Dances) spans the entire gallery window. This rusted and decaying conglomeration of salvaged materials bejeweled with quartz and pyrite, marks the path - acting as a portal. It beckons us into Tandy’s world, where he has divided the gallery’s rooms into two distinct spaces separated by a veil.
The front room presents a new series of charcoal drawings. Through channelled markings, spirits take shape on multi-layered pages of vellum or Mylar, and on Icelandic newsprint from the early 1900’s. Figures and shapes build off of and into each other, while apparitions come to the forefront. This can be seen in The World is a Veil, where a latticework of undulating marks from two sheets of Mylar coalesce to form a singular shape splitting apart or perhaps mirroring the other. Tandy takes this one step further with The Eldritch Light by taking century old paper and imbuing channeled spirits into and on top of pre-existing ghosts who have dwelled in the pages long before.
Accompanying the drawings in the front room are a series of newly forged talismanic wands. In these, Tandy brings together an amalgamation of organic materials such as inherited bone, wood, crystals, minerals, and other foraged objects that he transforms through unique charging methods, including burying and burning. Their names and the potency of these wands come forth as whispers during the forging process. Sky Breaker, one of the nine wands in the exhibit, brings together selenite, spectrolite, quartz, bone, pyrite, graphite and imbued wood. Each of these elements bring a unique property to the wand vibrating and humming with power and purpose.
By passing through a veiled threshold into the back room, we delve deep into SJÁ: GHØSTS altered reality. In an immersive installation, Tandy uses site specific interventions, experimental video and sound designed in collaboration with Evan Meyer to make visible a world where spirits prevail. The installation incorporates Super 8 film footage from the first chapter of SJÁ, where the artist performed rituals appearing as the Raven. Combining footage from these past rituals together with otherworldly found footage, Tandy builds a foundation for a ghostly realm that is many layers deep.
GHØSTS continues his exploration of how we see reality and the many realms it spans across. In this exhibit, as in other chapters of SJÁ, Tandy illuminates the chasms between us and unseen worlds adjacent to ours. A world that is fueled by ancient spirits, queer magickal energy and enveloped by profound darkness.
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Join us Saturday, October 3rd from 11 am - 7 pm for the opening reception. In accordance with local measures to keep us safe, our gallery will be open with limited capacity for the opening reception. Please email us at info@glassrice.com to reserve a time to see the exhibition. While you may come at your own leisure, be advised that there may be an extended wait. Reservations are highly encouraged. Masks required and hand sanitizer on entry.
SJÁ: GHØSTS
Dates: October 3 - October 31, 2020
Reception: Saturday, October 3 | 11 AM - 7 PM
Virtual Artist Talk: October 15th | 5 PM
Glass Rice is proud to present SJÁ: GHØSTS, Christopher M. Tandy’s sophomore solo exhibition with the gallery. SJÁ:GHØSTS is the third chapter of an overarching collaborative project called SJÁ. Taking its name from the Icelandic word for “see”, SJÁ is a continuously evolving and expanding project that seeks to explore new ways of presenting and experiencing reality.
In SJÁ: GHØSTS, a hanging sculpture entitled In the Silence (Everything Dances) spans the entire gallery window. This rusted and decaying conglomeration of salvaged materials bejeweled with quartz and pyrite, marks the path - acting as a portal. It beckons us into Tandy’s world, where he has divided the gallery’s rooms into two distinct spaces separated by a veil.
The front room presents a new series of charcoal drawings. Through channelled markings, spirits take shape on multi-layered pages of vellum or Mylar, and on Icelandic newsprint from the early 1900’s. Figures and shapes build off of and into each other, while apparitions come to the forefront. This can be seen in The World is a Veil, where a latticework of undulating marks from two sheets of Mylar coalesce to form a singular shape splitting apart or perhaps mirroring the other. Tandy takes this one step further with The Eldritch Light by taking century old paper and imbuing channeled spirits into and on top of pre-existing ghosts who have dwelled in the pages long before.
Accompanying the drawings in the front room are a series of newly forged talismanic wands. In these, Tandy brings together an amalgamation of organic materials such as inherited bone, wood, crystals, minerals, and other foraged objects that he transforms through unique charging methods, including burying and burning. Their names and the potency of these wands come forth as whispers during the forging process. Sky Breaker, one of the nine wands in the exhibit, brings together selenite, spectrolite, quartz, bone, pyrite, graphite and imbued wood. Each of these elements bring a unique property to the wand vibrating and humming with power and purpose.
By passing through a veiled threshold into the back room, we delve deep into SJÁ: GHØSTS altered reality. In an immersive installation, Tandy uses site specific interventions, experimental video and sound designed in collaboration with Evan Meyer to make visible a world where spirits prevail. The installation incorporates Super 8 film footage from the first chapter of SJÁ, where the artist performed rituals appearing as the Raven. Combining footage from these past rituals together with otherworldly found footage, Tandy builds a foundation for a ghostly realm that is many layers deep.
GHØSTS continues his exploration of how we see reality and the many realms it spans across. In this exhibit, as in other chapters of SJÁ, Tandy illuminates the chasms between us and unseen worlds adjacent to ours. A world that is fueled by ancient spirits, queer magickal energy and enveloped by profound darkness.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Join us Saturday, October 3rd from 11 am - 7 pm for the opening reception. In accordance with local measures to keep us safe, our gallery will be open with limited capacity for the opening reception. Please email us at info@glassrice.com to reserve a time to see the exhibition. While you may come at your own leisure, be advised that there may be an extended wait. Reservations are highly encouraged. Masks required and hand sanitizer on entry.