Opening on September 12, Studio SKD is proudly exhibiting "I Can Feel", the groundbreaking work by artist and emotional autobiographer, Suzy Kellems Dominik that made waves when it was first presented during Art Basel Miami Beach in 2017. For its New York debut, the sculpture will be exhibited alongside an informational making-of video and a new poem from the artist's ongoing "Badassery" series.
"I Can Feel" is a visually arresting neon sculpture, choreographed light performance, and Kellems Dominik’s largest neon work. Standing at 12′ tall, the 27.68 second neon performance illuminates the rising emotion and viscerally glorifies the female orgasm in its overt monumentality. Described as a work of emotional autobiography the sculpture’s central feature is a 5’ 3.5” vagina, a number that symbolically represents the artist’s height.
The viewer basks in an effusive pink and blue neon glow as the choreography elicits the warmth of human touch and the vindication of emotional redemption. The title of the work describes a self-affirmation, a personal breakthrough experienced in the wake of a mourned relationship, wherein the subject has progressed beyond the stages of grief to proclaim the achievement of self-empowerment and to ultimately embrace both physical and spiritual joy.
At a time when autonomy of the female body remains a topic for public debate, "I Can Feel" reaffirms the need to assert our agency. The piece seeks to transcend gender and focus on the innate human need to connect, communicate, and commune. The artwork is a poetic reclamation of the self.
For more information on the artist, please visit suzykellemsdominik.com or visit the exhibition website.
Opening Reception - Thursday, September 12
Panel Discussion - Saturday, September 14
Email RSVP@hayworth.co for details
Closing Reception - Tuesday, October 22
Suzy Kellems Dominik (b. 1961) is a multi-disciplinary artist and emotional autobiographer known for her fearlessly confrontational work. She explores deliberate feminist themes, realized through various mediums which serve to dissect the most intimate moments of human relationships. Kellems Dominik seeks to encourage and amplify strong female voices with a focus on self-empowerment, pleasure, and the private-made-public. Her extensive and varied body of work is underscored by a profound empathy for the vulnerability of the human condition and for the principles that underlie our efforts to connect, communicate, and commune. Kellems Dominik’s work is characterized by her diligent research of our culture’s visual traditions, societal taboos, religious legacy, and the body of the individual. She often uses her own body to expose antiquated social constructs and, in examining female sensuality and agency, subverts patriarchal social and aesthetic conventions. Drawing on the endlessly expressive qualities of video, performance, photography, and sculpture, Kellems Dominik explores objectification and the male gaze, human trauma, female sexuality, agency, and her own experience of loss and survival.
Kellems Dominik has had solo exhibitions at Onishi Project (New York), LaCuna Art Studios (Chicago), Coup d’Etat (San Francisco), and The Laundry (San Francisco). Her sculptural installations have been exhibited internationally in collaboration with the PUBLIC Hotel (Chicago), the Nautilus Hotel (Miami), and the Freehand Hotel (Miami). Kellems Dominik has further presented her work on the international art fair circuit, including with the Armory Show (New York), Scope Art Fair (Miami), the Tokyo International Art Fair (Tokyo), and the Affordable Art Fair (New York).
For more information on the artist, please visit suzykellemsdominik.com or email studio@suzykellemsdominik.com.
Chashama supports artists by partnering with property owners to transform dormant real estate into space to create, present, and connect, with the mission to increase equity and bolster access to the arts. For over two decades Chashama has played a central role in sustaining New York’s vibrant artistic community by giving space to 20,000 artists, hosting 4,000 public art events, providing 1,500 free art classes in under-resourced communities, and reaching an audience of nearly a million. Chashama was founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Anita Durst to remedy what she observed to be the greatest threat artists faced: the lack of affordable space. Since its inception Chashama has worked collaboratively with artists, property owners, and the New York community to activate space and support under-resourced communities, establishing itself as a well-regarded cultural force on a mission to increase access to the arts for all. To learn more, visit www.chashama.org and follow @chashama.