construct

Larry Akers - Jonathan Clark - Robert Jason Cross - Dameon Lester

July 17th - September 11th, 2015

The Gallery Space at 2000 East 6th St., Austin, TX 78702

Opening Reception
Friday, July 17,2015
5:30pm to 8:30pm
Brief artist introduction and talk at 6:00.

Closing Reception
Saturday, September 5th, 2015
5:30pm to 8:30pm
Brief artist introduction and talk at 6:00.

Exhibition Hours
Tuesday: 1:00 - 6:00pm
Saturday and Sunday: 11:00am - 5:00pm
Other times by appointment.

Construct:

Verb: to form by assembling or combining parts; to build

Noun: something formed or constructed from parts

CAMIBAart proudly presents “construct” featuring art by Larry Akers, Jonathan Clark, Robert Jason Cross and Dameon Lester.  Much like architects and builders use ready-made materials to construct buildings, these artists use materials to construct their art.  In any building, the materials used are critical to defining the final product, yet in an exceptional building, the final product somehow transcends those materials to become something completely new.  Such is the case with the artworks in this exhibition; each is a product of its materials, yet in the final work we are able to see something so very different.  It is also important to note, that each of these artists handcrafts their art using ready-made products and in some cases computerized concepts.

Dameon Lester’s work resides in the space of tension between ordered perfection and disordered detritus in the natural world.  Elegant sculptural forms, which at first appear flawless in their careful patterning and rigorous manufacture, upon closer inspection reveal subtle disruptions or surprising deviations.  Through a labor-intensive and repetitive process, Lester transforms simple craft materials like pipe cleaners or plywood into dimensionally patterned vessels and geometric landscapes.  Lester combines his interest in recycled and devalued materials with an instinctive practice that build upon itself, compelling the base units of his constructions to multiply and proliferate rhizomatically.  With a Bachelor of Fine Art in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Fine Art from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Lester now lives and works in Austin, Texas.

Dameon Lester's Artist Statement & abbreviated Resume here.

Austin artist and designer Robert Jason Cross received his Masters of Architecture from Rice University in Houston, TX and his BA in Architecture from the University of New Mexico.  Vacillating between mediums and methods of production, he looks to develop and interrogate the disparate relationships between the analog and the digital. In his search for a novel means of making, he also looks for unique forms of expression that fall outside of traditional and classical models.  With a craft that exists between the worlds of the handmade and the computational, Cross continues to evolve this language in his “Segmented Surfaces” series by gluing and bolting complex geometries cut from various mediums. 

Robert Jason Cross' Artist Statement & abbreviated Resume here.

Jonathan Clark is interested in nature’s process of intrinsic mathematical and divine proportions. The Divine Proportion, also known as the Golden Ratio, is found in nature from the furthest stars to our fingertips, and is used by Clark as a tool for discovery and understanding of regenerative and harmonious forms.  For this exhibit, he manipulated readily available materials to create artworks that, on both a macro and micro level, reference familiar biological elements. Clark graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and has participated in multiple widely respected residencies including one currently at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

Jonathan Clark's Artist Statement & abbreviated Resume here.

Larry Akers is a self-taught artist with a PhD and MA in Computer Science as well as a BA in Mathematics, all from the University of Texas at Austin.  Inspired by artist such as Carlos Cruz-Diez and Jesus Rafael Soto, much of Akers' artwork explores the visual phenomenon created by the interactions of multiple regular patterns.  Many of his constructed three-dimensional artworks set up moiré effects that are activated by the viewer’s movement around the piece.  The initial beauty of the artworks is magnified upon the realization that the majority of the materials used in creating their effects are often-seen ready-made objects.

Larry Akers' Artist Statement & abbreviated Resume here.

Construct Installation Photos