EMILY FLEISHER: SOLID REMEMBERING
March 20 – May 30, 2020
Opening Reception: Friday March 20, 7-10PM
Sala Diaz | 517 Stieren SA, TX 78210
Media Contact | Anjali Gupta salad517@gmail.com
Phone | 972-900-0047
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
There is an inherent fuzzy quality that refracts the viewing of history—even personal history—underscoring how difficult it is to hold on to a crisp memory. Solid Remembering is a select body of sculptures and tactile imagery spanning the last eight years. Included in Solid Remembering is Risen: I Put The Yeast In, an ongoing series begun in 2012. These “bread prints” were initially made with my pre-school aged son as an activity to bookend the day. We would mix dough together in the morning, wait for it to rise, then knead, shape and bake it on parchment paper in the late afternoon. Eventually I noticed that the parchment paper burnt in a really beautiful way, creating a tangible imprint of our activity—of time spent together.
Another ongoing series of textile patterns traced on mylar explores personal objects through translucent media. Among the objects are gloves that my great-grandmother crocheted, anonymous cross-stitched works picked up by my mother at a flea market, and my grandmother’s last tissue box. All these pieces represent levels of absorption of the personal into an otherwise inert object, and all are bound by their relationship to the personal domestic landscape. Each work acts as a mini memorial to fleeting moments that resonate in my memory. I think of them as a way of coping with mortality and the passage of time, while simultaneously inviting the magical into one’s daily routine.
- Emily Fleisher, 2020
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Emily Fleisher is an artist and educator originally from New York. Fleisher graduated with an MFA in Sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA in Sculpture from Syracuse University. She has exhibited at numerous venues including Women and Their Work (Austin, TX); Stay Gold Gallery (Brooklyn, NY); Lawndale Art Center (Houston, TX); Artpace San Antonio; and the Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, NY). In addition, Emily is the recipient of a Mary Lily Travel Research Grant through Duke University in 2019, a 300 TriArt Grant from the City of San Antonio in 2018, and an alumna of the Vermont Studio Center Residency. She currently lives and works in San Antonio.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Roberta “Nina” Hassele is a Brooklyn-raised, Texas-based curator, arts supporter and organizer. As a child, New York’s museums and galleries were her playgrounds and safe spaces. After moving to Texas, Nina found joy and refuge in art again, falling in love with San Antonio’s vibrant and inclusive downtown art scene. She has spent twenty years immersed in the arts community—first as a friend, volunteer, collector and fundraiser—and now as a curator of local and traveling exhibitions, as well as an advisor to arts institutions. Her mission is to increase recognition and support for all of San Antonio’s artists. She has been the Executive Director of Contemporary Art Month San Antonio since 2012.
ABOUT SALA DIAZ
Sala Diaz, a 501(c) 3 exhibition space, is an experimental venue for contemporary art established in 1995. Located in the heart of the Cultural Arts District, Sala Diaz provides a venue for the exhibition of new and challenging work and fosters lasting exchange between our city and creative communities abroad. Housed in the same residential structure as the gallery, The Casa Chuck Residency is an invitational program through which Sala Diaz provides critics, curators and writers a haven for varied creative pursuits. Initiated in 2011, the residency honors the legacy of visionary artist, arts advocate, cultural maven and bon vivant Chuck Ramirez who died the previous year. Official residents spend one month living in Ramirez’ former abode, exploring and interacting with the surrounding arts community. Sala/Casa hosts a wide array of arts professionals in-between exhibitions and residencies including artists, critics, curators, filmmakers, musicians and scholars.
Sala Diaz is supported by H-E-B's Community Investment Program, The Lifschutz Foundation, The Smothers Foundation and numerous individuals including Mike Casey, Sonya Dawson, Alejandro Diaz, Lorena & Joel Dunlap, Nina Hassele, Stacey Hill, Reagan Johns, Trish Marcus & the Ramirez Family, Chris Sauter, Patty Ortiz, Brad Parman & Tim Seeliger, Justin Parr, Patricia Ruiz-Healy, Ethel Shipton, Hills Snyder, Don Thomas & Lara Flynn Boyle and The Family & Friends of Peter Zubiate.
www.saladiazart.org