The pane, not the window

About

And from the inside, too, I'd duplicate
Myself, my lamp, an apple on a plate:
Uncurtaining the night, I'd let dark glass
Hang all the furniture above the grass

-Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire

The idea of art as a window on the world is not a new one, credited to the 15th century theorist Leon Battista Alberti. In the present, Alberti's conception of art as mathematic harmony derived from nature seems remote from our own concern for individual expression and interpersonal interaction. A contemporary window, if one will pardon the expression, is one that looks in, not out. With this emphasis on interiority comes the possibility of deception and invention. 

The artists featured in The pane, not the window present projects that exploit art's potential to describe nonexistent spaces, whether imaginary or reflective of reality. Projects, in the sense that they have been plucked prior to becoming fully-fledged series. The works by each artist are interdependent on each other to establish the rules of their invented space. Just as most windows contain glass, these pieces place a barrier between the viewer and the projection of an illusion: an element that brings the fiction to the front of our awareness. 

Mankind is not innately privileged in the universe, and all of the rationalizations we can offer for our superior position are bound to be mired in subjectivity. Shane Harrington, who has returned to painting after a long absence, conjures the cramped quarters of this self-delusion through tight abstractions that find cold comfort in monolithic structures. He has titled his work after antidepressants, antipsychotics, and clinical terminology; modifications to individual psychology that suggest the self may require correction. 

Scale and orientation are often gleaned unconsciously from the photographic image, reached through a process where the eye finds its footing in details that serve as clues for the bigger picture. Kris Enos' past work has taken inspiration from dreams, recreating oneiric details within the context of studio photography. His "Rooms" project returns to the uncanny as the pivot point on which reality is questioned, but within a constructed setting. Using a scale model and set, Enos takes advantage of the medium's uncertain perspective to stage an investigation of photographic falsehood. 

Kathy Creutzburg's work is constructed on conceptual pathways that accumulate layers and details over the course of a journey. Her paintings issue forth from a free flow of ink that picks up and carries fluvial objects and patterns in its path. Likewise, Creutzburg's sculptures are constructed on jetsam, literally objects that float ashore from a river and are collected by the artist. Resembling boats or piers in form, these sculptures embody the poetic suggestions of her two-dimensional work. 

Technology has added new and unavoidable associations to the word "window," as an interface for graphic or textual information. Klay-James Enos' paintings and digital art are influenced by this alliance of image and grammar in a single space. His "In the Studio" project uses traditional sketches of a model in an atelier setting as a departure point. Over a sequence of works spanning mediums and styles, the image is abstracted into a linear signal. This structure becomes inseparable from the artist's representation of a classical subject.