some gamut considers the inner “gamuts,” or full-fleshed ranges of something within a larger expanse. The phrase contextualizes the four works in the show, each of which engage in queries about scale, limits, and contact.
Figa’s ongoing chiasmus series features drawings on paper only slightly larger than the palm of the artist’s hand. Typically understood as a rhetorical device in which a reversal of syntactic structures takes place, the “chiasmus” of this series takes influence from Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s utilization of the term as a visual metaphor for perception. A departure from her larger works on paper which employ more negative than drawn space, the works in the chiasmus series are entirely marked, or in the artist’s words, flooded with drawing.
As Figa scales down her works on paper she simultaneously scales up her sculptural investigations. propositional variation xiii is the latest in the artist’s ongoing series of graphite sculptures. The series takes formal influence from analog communication and navigation devices, in addition to musical aids, such as tuning forks. Presented as a single object here, the six graphite rods can be separated and scattered across the gallery space.
– Isabel Casso + Laura Figa
Laura Figa is an artist and writer whose work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 500 Capp St., Temple Contemporary, Et al., Bass & Reiner, and elsewhere. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in fine art from California College of the Arts. She lives and works in San Francisco.