FERNANDA MARTÍNEZ COMMON GROUND
MARCH 14TH - APRIL 18TH
FERNANDA MARTÍNEZ IS AN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA BASED PAINTER, MURALIST AND SCULPTOR. SHE DRAWS FROM HER MEMORIES AND OBSERVATIONS OF NATURE, BLENDING AN EXPERIMENTAL AND INTUITIVE APPROACH TO HER PRACTICE. HER VIBRANT, EXPRESSIVE WORKS DELVE INTO THE EMOTIONAL DEPTHS OF COLOR AND FORM. BY INCORPORATING INTRICATE PATTERNS AND TEXTURES, SHE CHALLENGES THE VIEWER, ENGAGING BOTH THE EYE AND THE MIND, AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO APPRECIATE THE FLEETING MOMENTS OF LIFE.
BORN AND RAISED IN MEXICO CITY, FERNANDA MOVED TO THE BAY AREA IN 2015 WHERE SHE FOUNDED LA TINTA. UNDER THIS NAME, SHE HAS COLLABORATED WITH MAJOR BRANDS SUCH AS ANTHROPOLOGIE, LULU AND GEORGIA, AND WORLD MARKET BY LICENSING HER WORK FOR A VARIETY OF PRODUCTS.
FERNANDA HAS COLLABORATED ON NUMEROUS MURAL PROJECTS FOR PRIVATE COMPANIES, COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES, AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. IN ADDITION TO HER COMMERCIAL WORK, SHE HAS SUCCESSFULLY CONTRIBUTED ARTWORK TO SEVERAL COMMUNITY-FOCUSED AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS.
FERNANDA LIVES AND WORKS IN OAKLAND, CA
OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, MARCH 14TH
COMMON GROUND, A COLLECTION OF NEW PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES BY FERNANDA MARTÍNEZ, EXPLORES THE EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE AND THE CITY AS A SHARED, ADAPTIVE SYSTEM. THROUGH PAINTING AND SCULPTURAL ELEMENTS, THE WORK CONSIDERS HOW ORGANIC GROWTH AND MANUFACTURED STRUCTURES INFLUENCE ONE ANOTHER — OVERLAPPING, ERODING AND COEXISTING WITHIN THE SAME ENVIRONMENT. MATERIAL EXPERIMENTATION PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS, WITH SURFACES, TEXTURES AND FORMS SHAPED THROUGH AN INTUITIVE, RESPONSIVE APPROACH RATHER THAN PREDETERMINED OUTCOMES. WORKING BETWEEN CONTROL AND CHANCE, FERNANDA ALLOWS MATERIALS TO GUIDE EACH PIECE, MIRRORING THE WAY NATURAL SYSTEMS NEGOTIATE SPACE WITHIN URBAN FRAMEWORKS. COMMON GROUND INVITES VIEWERS TO REFLECT ON SHARED SPACE, NOT AS A FIXED BOUNDARY, BUT AS A LIVING, SHIFTING TERRAIN SHAPED BY BOTH HUMAN AND NATURAL FORCES.
LOOK WEST AND TUNNEL RECORDS PRESENT:
ANALOG AMALGAMATION
APRIL 25TH - MAY 30TH
LOOK WEST GALLERY AND TUNNEL RECORDS PRESENT: ANALOG AMALGAMATION, A GROUP SHOW EXPLORING THE ART STUDIO AS BOTH A WORKSPACE AND LISTENING ROOM, WHERE MUSIC OPERATES AS A QUIET BUT PERSISTENT FORCE IN STRUCTURING TIME, GUIDING MOVEMENT AND INFLUENCING DECISIONS. THE EXHIBITION BRINGS VISUAL ART AND MUSIC INTO DIALOGUE, TREATING SOUND AS AN ACTIVE PRESENCE THAT IS CARRIED INTO THE WORK ITSELF.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS WILL CONTRIBUTE ORIGINAL ARTWORKS FOR THE EXHIBITION AND A SHORT OR LONG STATEMENT OF HOW MUSIC INFLUENCES THEIR STUDIO PRACTICE. EACH PIECE WILL BE GROUPED WITH A SECTION OF LPS, CURATED BY TUNNEL RECORDS, FROM ONE OF SIX MUSICAL GENRES: ROCK, REGGAE, SOUL, HIP-HOP, JAZZ, OR LATIN - AS LOOK WEST MORPHS INTO PART GALLERY, PART RECORD STORE, ALL ANALOG. ALL ARTWORK WILL REFLECT ONE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED GENRES OF MUSIC EITHER THROUGH PICTORIAL CONTENT OR SOUND ASSOCIATION.
OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, APRIL 25TH
jung sun lee solo exhibition
JUNE 6TH - JULY 12TH
SOUTH KOREAN-BORN ARTIST, JUNG SUN LEE, EXPLORES THE DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANITY AND LANDSCAPE THROUGH MODERN, GEOMETRIC INTERPRETATIONS. HER WORK IS NOT MERELY ABOUT DEPICTING NATURE OR URBAN SETTINGS, BUT ABOUT THE HUMAN PRESENCE WITHIN THEM—THE LIVES THAT UNFOLD IN AND AROUND THESE SPACES.
LEE IS FASCINATED BY THE FLUIDITY OF THE WORLD, HOW ELEMENTS LIKE LAND, SEA, AND CITIES CONSTANTLY SHIFT AND CONNECT. THROUGH THESE TRANSFORMATIONS, SHE REFLECTS ON THE CONTINUITY OF LIFE—HOW THE PAST SHAPES THE PRESENT, AND HOW OUR ACTIONS RIPPLE INTO THE FUTURE. LEE’S ART BECOMES A CONVERSATION ACROSS TIME, CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF OUR COLLECTIVE JOURNEY.
THE THEMES THAT DRIVE HER PRACTICE ARE ROOTED IN A DEEP ENGAGEMENT WITH HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE—FORCES THAT SHAPE AND DEFINE US. WHAT INTERESTS LEE MOST IS HOW THESE ELEMENTS CARVE OUT OUR UNIQUE EXISTENCE, SETTING US APART FROM OTHER LIFE FORMS, AND ULTIMATELY SHAPING THE MEANING OF OUR LIVES.
MOVING TO THE UNITED STATES AND BECOMING A MOTHER HAS DEEPLY INFORMED HER WORK. THE EXPERIENCE OF RECONCILING HER NATIVE KOREAN CULTURE WITH THE NEW AMERICAN WORLD SHE ENCOUNTERS, ALONGSIDE THE YEARS SPENT ADAPTING TO DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS, HAS PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED LEE’S PERSPECTIVE AND HER ART. THIS ONGOING PROCESS OF INTEGRATION IS CENTRAL TO HER EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY, BELONGING, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE ITSELF.
LEE IS ALSO DRAWN TO EXPANDING HER WORK BEYOND THE CONFINES OF TWO-DIMENSIONALITY, PUSHING THE IMAGERY INTO THREE DIMENSIONS. BY TRANSFORMING THE PIECES INTO ARCHITECTURAL AND SCULPTURAL FORMS, LEE AIMS TO FURTHER EXPLORE THE EVER-EVOLVING NATURE OF HUMANITY AND TO INVITE A MORE LAYERED, MULTIDIMENSIONAL VIEW OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE—ONE THAT HONORS BOTH THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COLLECTIVE JOURNEY OF LIFE.
OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, JUNE 6TH