A couple of months back, The Detroit Industrial Project had given us a heads - up on their latest show, "Approaching Szygy". This is a soft-sculpture installation by one of DIP's newest proteges, Jada Bowden.
This past Saturday, Riaz Khan from MCB decided to head over to the Russell Industrial Center, and check out the artist and her chosen form of expression in all it's glory.
The pictures, above, are pretty much self - explanatory. We have before us, the beautiful (albeit tad-bit-shy) artist, Jada, and her installation-piece, which at first glance, consists of several 16x20 wire frames hung end-to-end across the middle of the seven walls of the 'gallery'.
Each frame is covered by strips of white cloth wrapped across the wire mesh and tied into tight, untidy knots. In the center of the space, hanging from the ceiling, and almost touching the floors, are three amorphous (no wire-mesh for a skeleton) "ghost-like" entities, made up of similar strips of white cotton, tied, wrapped and knotted together.
Szygy? Yes, we DID wiki it.
Jada patiently responded to a battery of questions from Yours Truly:
"I call this piece, 'Approaching Szygy' because I feel like I am at that stage in Life where a lot of things seem to be aligning themselves in harmony with the stars and generally moving me in a positive direction."
"The white strips are actually torn from hotel sheets that my grandfather had kept, and for me, are priceless in their sentimental value."
"The first impression you get lets you consider that the strips of cloth are pristine in their whiteness, but a close inspection reveals stains and small tears - that's how I see people around me, and also myself".
"The three looming figures in the center are meant to be individuals, people, and these are also intended to represent me".
W were genuinely surprised at how accommodating Jada was in explaining her creativity and patiently hearing us out on what our interpretation of her sculpture was.
The closing reception for this show is on Saturday, the 30th of Jan - and will host a live musical performance by Love Ocean.
Be there and help support local detroit artists!
