Features of the Same Face (Art+Tech Artist-in-Residence)

FEATURES OF THE SAME FACE
Stephanie Deumer, 2016 Cerritos College ART+TECH Artist-in-Residence

January 28th – March 10th, 2017
Opening: Saturday, January 28th @ 6-8PM (in conjunction with the FAR Bazaar at Cerritos College)

Cerritos College Art Gallery is pleased to present a new exhibition by the 2016 Cerritos College ART+TECH Artist-in-Residence, Stephanie Deumer. During the October-December 2016 residency period, Deumer worked with faculty from the Cerritos College Woodworking program, collaborating to produce the components for her large-scale installation, Features of the Same Face.

“…The house seemed to be infinite and growing. The house is not this large, he thought. It is only made larger by the penumbra, the symmetry, the mirrors, the years, my ignorance, the solitude.”

– Jorge Luis Borges, Death and the Compass

Features of the Same Face is a sculptural installation inspired by a dollhouse meticulously handmade by the artist’s mother. Incorporating furniture, wallpaper, and prints, the show imitates a domestic interior dining room. Elements in the space exist in a simulated state, embodying the memory of their original. For instance, the wooden chairs were fabricated via 3D scanning of the initial dollhouse chairs and then built to human scale with a CNC machine. Similarly, the wallpaper was conceived using a woodblock print, which was produced from a photograph of the original dollhouse wallpaper. Through various digital processes and translations, the pieces paradoxically become nostalgic: harkening back to childhood toys, recollections, and a time when handmade wood crafting was valued to a greater extent.

Anachronisms, shifting scales, trompe l’oeil depictions, and disproportionate details cause the room to become a mise en abyme, existing in a hybridized state between original and copy, historic and modern, past and present, familiar and estranged. Using structures of symmetry and repetition, Features of the Same Face addresses complexities of representation while considering the capacities (or the inherent lack of capacity) in the reconstruction of intangible memories, nostalgia, and sentiment. Not only does the space interrogate its objects, but also its subjects who collectively join in the act of spectating, experiencing, and remembering. Consequently, the work highlights the symbiotic relationship between subjects and objects and blurs the boundaries between them – in essence, revealing them to be features of the same face.

A Canadian artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, Stephanie Deumer holds a BA from the University of Guelph and a MFA from California Institute of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited at the Milton Center for the Arts, Cooper Design Space, Mississauga Living Arts Center, and the Propeller Center for the Visual Arts. She was recently an artist-in-residence at the REEF in LA. To see previous projects by Deumer, visit her artist website at: http://stephaniedeumer.com

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About the ART+TECH Artist-in-Residence Program: Established in 2014, the Cerritos College ART+TECH Artist-in-Residency is a unique annual program, which pairs a local professional visual artist with the amazing technology resources available on the Cerritos College campus. During the Fall 2014 residency period, the divisional Technology partner was the Engineering Design Technology department and the 2015 residency partner was the Automotive Collision Repair department (with future annual partners to include Machine Tool Technology, Welding, Architecture, Plastics, and Cosmetology). The catalog for Jeff Cain’s 2014 residency project, Natural History, can be found at http://www.blurb.com/b/6027965-natural-history-jeff-cain and the catalog for Beatriz Cortez’s 2015 residency project can be found at http://www.blurb.com/b/7180438-your-life-work

About the Cerritos College Art Gallery: The Cerritos College Art Gallery presents rotating exhibitions highlighting the work of emerging and mid-career artists. A special emphasis is placed on works that confront challenging and pressing issues in contemporary art and culture. In support of exhibitions, the Cerritos College Art Gallery also regularly hosts workshops, lectures, and performances. The mission of the Cerritos College Art Gallery is to serve as an educational, social, and culture enhancement for the Cerritos academic population, as well as the immediate surrounding communities.

About the Woodworking Program at Cerritos College: The Cerritos College Woodworking program, recognized as one of the finest woodworking schools in Southern California, offers classes in furniture making, cabinetmaking, CNC woodworking, and related topics. The program works out of a 27,000 square-foot facility, where over 100 stationary and portable woodworking machines are available. Curriculum emphasizes hands-on training and real-world experience, and all classes are project-focused, with over forty different classes covering topics from face-frame and frameless cabinet construction to CNC woodworking to architectural millwork to table and case-good construction to the use of hand tools, woodturning, and veneering. For more on the woodworking program at Cerritos College, please see the department’s latest brochure covering its various programs and facility features at http://www.cerritosgallery.com/exhibitions/press_releases/Woodworking-2016.pdf

About Cerritos College: Founded in 1955, Cerritos College is a public comprehensive community college in southeastern Los Angeles county. The campus is located at 11110 Alondra Blvd, Norwalk, CA 90650.