Solo Exhibition: Dreaming As the Summers Die
Zoe Hawk
Dates: May 4 - June 2, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday, May 4 | 6-8 pm
Glass Rice is proud to present Dreaming As the Summers Die, a solo exhibition of new and old paintings and prints by Zoe Hawk. Hawk delves into the world of adolescence, depicting groups of girls dressed in uniform, as candy stripers, schoolgirls, or girl scouts, within carefully constructed scenes: at school, in the home, or out in nature. Initially, these controlled settings seem sweet, naive and nostalgic, yet upon closer inspection, these once innocent scenes take on a mysterious and unsettling turn. Austere shrouded figures, perhaps their mothers, caretakers, or teachers, watch the girls from the perimeter, what once seemed like playful scenes become rebellious, and zealous behavior takes on a dark and cultish nature.
Themes of gendered socialization, anxiety, group dynamics, and performance are tackled within scenes of girlhood play and interactions, often stylistically referencing children’s storybook illustrations. Hawk’s work investigates the complex experience of coming of age. The costumes, colorful dresses, mournful funeral attire, and identical uniforms signify various modes of feminine identity, and set the stage for the girls’ interactions. The girls dwell in what look like peaceful worlds, yet are confronted by the suffocating pressures of conforming to idealized versions of femininity, and the difficulties that come with navigating the realm of youth into womanhood; a reflection of Hawk’s own realizations as a young girl. An intricate play of yearning, contention, camaraderie, and mischief develops between these characters as they navigate their own little worlds—somewhere between childhood and adulthood, between fairy tales and the dark realities of womanhood.
About the Artist:
Zoe Hawk’s figurative paintings and silkscreen prints deal with the complex experience of girlhood. Zoe was born in St. Louis in 1982. She received her BFA in studio art from Missouri State University, and MFA in painting from the University of Iowa. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and included in publications such as New American Paintings, ArtMaze Mag (UK), and JOIA Magazine (Chile). She has attended printmaking residencies at Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium, Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York, and has traveled twice to Norway as an artist-in-residence at Kunstnarhuset Messen. Her most recent residency experience was at the Doha Fire Station in Qatar, which culminated in a group exhibition in Berlin. Zoe currently lives and works in Doha, Qatar.
Zoe Hawk
Dates: May 4 - June 2, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday, May 4 | 6-8 pm
Glass Rice is proud to present Dreaming As the Summers Die, a solo exhibition of new and old paintings and prints by Zoe Hawk. Hawk delves into the world of adolescence, depicting groups of girls dressed in uniform, as candy stripers, schoolgirls, or girl scouts, within carefully constructed scenes: at school, in the home, or out in nature. Initially, these controlled settings seem sweet, naive and nostalgic, yet upon closer inspection, these once innocent scenes take on a mysterious and unsettling turn. Austere shrouded figures, perhaps their mothers, caretakers, or teachers, watch the girls from the perimeter, what once seemed like playful scenes become rebellious, and zealous behavior takes on a dark and cultish nature.
Themes of gendered socialization, anxiety, group dynamics, and performance are tackled within scenes of girlhood play and interactions, often stylistically referencing children’s storybook illustrations. Hawk’s work investigates the complex experience of coming of age. The costumes, colorful dresses, mournful funeral attire, and identical uniforms signify various modes of feminine identity, and set the stage for the girls’ interactions. The girls dwell in what look like peaceful worlds, yet are confronted by the suffocating pressures of conforming to idealized versions of femininity, and the difficulties that come with navigating the realm of youth into womanhood; a reflection of Hawk’s own realizations as a young girl. An intricate play of yearning, contention, camaraderie, and mischief develops between these characters as they navigate their own little worlds—somewhere between childhood and adulthood, between fairy tales and the dark realities of womanhood.
About the Artist:
Zoe Hawk’s figurative paintings and silkscreen prints deal with the complex experience of girlhood. Zoe was born in St. Louis in 1982. She received her BFA in studio art from Missouri State University, and MFA in painting from the University of Iowa. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and included in publications such as New American Paintings, ArtMaze Mag (UK), and JOIA Magazine (Chile). She has attended printmaking residencies at Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium, Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York, and has traveled twice to Norway as an artist-in-residence at Kunstnarhuset Messen. Her most recent residency experience was at the Doha Fire Station in Qatar, which culminated in a group exhibition in Berlin. Zoe currently lives and works in Doha, Qatar.
Birthday Girl, 2016
Silkscreen Print 15 x 20 in. (framed) 
Cry, Sally, Cry, 2014
Oil on Aluminum 15 x 17 in. 
Dream Home, 2014
Oil on Aluminum 15 x 18 in. 
How Many Janes?, 2013
Oil on Aluminum 15 x 19 in. 
Company, 2013
Oil on Aluminum 17 x 19 in. |
Little Lamb, I’ll Tell Thee, 2013
Oil on Aluminum 17 x 19 in. 
Playground, 2012
Gouache on Paper 22 x 30 in. (framed) 
Ever Drifting, 2018
Oil on Aluminum 22 x 16.5 
This Way Over Obstacle, 2016
Oil on Aluminum 13.5 x 16.5 in. 
Blooding, 2014
Oil on Aluminum 17 x 19 in. |
Procession, 2012
Gouache on Paper 22 x 30 in. (framed) 
Arsenic Green, 2016
Silkscreen Print 15 x 20 in. (framed) 
Shrinking Violet, 2017
Oil on Aluminum 18 x 23 in. 
Dreaming As the Summers Die, 2017
Oil on Aluminum 18 x 24 in. |