HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY

Comprised of two-dimensional works and sculpture, repetitive patterns and isometric forms are deconstructed and presented as pure line. Employing aluminum, steel, lacquer and wood, line is used to translate a two-dimensional screen into a three dimensional sculptural cage and back again to wall based powder-coated, hand-etched panels. This translated and re-translated dialogue is assembled and presented in a way that frustrates a clear comprehension of the environment in which the works are placed. Fountain, the centerpiece of the exhibiton references a wrought iron screen, The Oasis, by Edgar Brandt. The screen is exemplary of Art Deco, a period that’s influence resonates through the exhibiton both stylistially and conceptually. In Dornner’s piece, perfect semi-circular bends radiate from a center column– metal rods flow as if propelled from a jet stream. It is an object full of potential, appearing as if it could be played like a harp–capable of producing patterns in sound as well as the visual patternation reflected from its forms.

Transoms presents the possibility of a frustrated, impossible, absurd or magical interaction between objects and space. Dornner considers this relationship in terms of the psychological dynamics of domestic spaces and the power roles embedded within. Through her works she looks to confound these dominant frameworks and suggest alternatives. Much like Deco emerged during a period of rapid industrialization and technological advancement–a clear parallel can be drawn to our gadget obsessed contemporary existence as our social lives are trapped increasingly in technological ether.

Sarah Dornner was born in 1979 in Valencia, CA. She studied at the University of California, Los Angeles and later received an MFA in Sculpture at the Yale University School of Art in New Haven, CT. Solo exhibitions include Primavesi House, Bureau (2013) and Sarah Dornner, Casey Kaplan Gallery (2007). Dornner’s works have also been included in the goup shows Summer Whites, Rachel Uffner Gallery (2011) Sixth Sax, Halsey McKay Gallery (2012) as well as at the Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens (2013). She was recently named as one of Modern Painters ‘Artists To Watch’.