“If All The World Were…”
Through Sunday September 27, 2015

The title of the exhibition is derived from a comic poem written circa 1658  ‘If All The World Were Paper’ whose verses were like riddles designed to inspire critical thinking.  The two artists, who have exhibited together on multiple occasions, have been paired up, because they both create highly personal universes through the repetitive application of a single, albeit mutually distinct, material. In the case of Morla, she uses found paper and packaging materials which are cut into thin strips and meticulously woven together into geometric and floral shapes. Irie, on the other hand employs tiny beads, often associated with the Native Mexican Huichol communities, to create childlike and playful imagery, and more recently geometric landscapes.

Morla and Irie create visually evocative works whose narratives may not be obvious at first glance. Like riddles, both artists meld influences from personal history, popular culture and daily life implementing materials and processes re-appropriated and re-contextualized from craft and folk art into a more contemporary practice. Their non-painting paintings demand that viewers attempt to figure out these riddles without any straightforward answers, leaving interpretations to the viewer who must draw their own, open-ended conclusions.  JAUS