Friday, October 4, 7 pm
C2 Centre for Craft
Things Fall Apart is a solo exhibition exploring the crafted miniature worlds of Erika Dueck.
Curated by Peter Tittenberger.
First Friday Gallery Hours: Friday, October 4, 5 – 9 pm
Exhibition Runs: September 6 – October 26, 2019
Things Fall Apart, Opening Reception. September 6, 2019
Photos by Leif Norman
Dueck’s work initially gives the impression of a construction site more than a piece of contemporary craft. The viewer is first met with a crude foam core structure with visible wires, cords, tape, glue, and cardboard. When peering through openings in these chaotic façades, meticulously crafted miniature spaces are revealed.
With precision and accuracy, Dueck crafts the internal spaces of her rooms out of everyday materials. Some rooms have the sense of purpose and utility found in the spaces we inhabit daily, while others display the unfamiliar and unconventional. She infuses her miniature spaces with details that hint at the passage of time, creating the impression of a living history within a fictional space.
A viewer can spot the cluttered chaos of a room abandoned in its prime, or hints of nature finding its way through the walls and floor, reclaiming the room as its own. Peering into Dueck’s spaces can seem disorienting, unsettling and invasive. Through a limited perspective, the viewer aspires to make sense of things: Where am I? What has happened here? Why am I being shown this?
Erika Dueck’s work creates space to consider time, presence, action and history. The lives we have built will disintegrate, transform and grow. Things will inevitably fall apart; time will continue to march on.
