AUTOMATIC

Automatic brings together three artists, Ka'ila Farrell-Smith, Yasue Maetake, and Emna Zghal who start each new work with a set of ideas or with particular materials, but without a preconceived, fixed idea of the final form. Taking visual and conceptual cues from the work before them, from memory, from found objects and observation, their process is self-generated and spontaneous. Improvisational. They work in differing visual styles and have varying concerns, yet share an interest in natural forms, texture, and creating meaning through inventive combinations.

Farrell-Smith works at the nexus of ecology, history, and her native heritage to make mixed-media paintings that vibrate with color and contemporary political power. Maetake explores material decay and resurrection while making sculptures that push at the tension between strength and fragility. Zghal takes a quieter approach, examining pattern and form in the natural world then translating it into painted layers of intricate and subtle substance.

Please enjoy this 8th presentation in the Fermata 3x3 series.

Marc Lepson
Curator