CROMMAEA Exhibition Explores Physical Presence and Online Identity
Hybrid in-person/online installation on view in Pioneer Square through April 30
Seattle, WA – A new window exhibition at Pilchuck Glass School’s downtown space in Pioneer Square turns the sidewalk into a mini museum. Artists Alana Biffert and Marta Gorski have teamed up to install CROMMAEA, a layered examination of our physical bodies and our digital world. The piece combines carved glass lenses with pixelated photographs printed on vellum, the whole thing bathed in the soft pink glow of neon lights. Stop and look: perhaps through one glass peephole you’ll notice the distorted image of an eye, larger than life; through another, a pair of lips.
“This work is about voyeurism, body image, and the double-ended perspective of the lens,” Biffert and Gorski share. “[It] explores what it means to be seen and be vulnerable without shame.” Themes that have come into sharp focus during the past year of isolation and online connection—like mindfulness, self-presentation, and visual consumption—surface in the work as questions and invite further reflection.
“In a global grab for attention, we spend our days scrolling for relevance,” the artists explain. “We flip through shot after shot with flaring opinions as humans slip in and out of the land of objecthood… This is an exploration of the digital era, not a criticism. It’s about bridging the gap between the people in front of and behind the screen.”
To add richness to the themes CROMMAEA addresses, Biffert and Gorski sat down with sociologist, communication coach, and author Dr. Jennifer Gunsaullus for a digital interview. The three discuss mindfulness, authenticity, and the facets of ourselves we choose to conceal or reveal as we curate our online identities. “As we have thoughts and emotions and worries and fears, we can kindly, compassionately train our brains to pay more attention in the present moment and not judge what’s going on,” Dr. Gunsaullus explains at the opening of the conversation.
This interview, as well as images of the CROMMAEA installation in Pioneer Square, are available to explore and enjoy on the website of Pilchuck Glass School: pilchuck.org/exhibitions.
CROMMAEA will be on view through April 30, 2021. It is the first in a series of window exhibitions by Pilchuck artists this year, each of which will include a digital component. Pilchuck Glass School is grateful to Historic South Downtown, which generously helped fund this exhibition series.
Pilchuck Glass School (pilcuck.org) is an international center for glass art education with a teaching campus in Stanwood, WA and an exhibition and event space in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Since its founding in 1971 by renowned artist Dale Chihuly, Pilchuck has drawn students and instructors from across the world to learn and share through immersive, in-depth workshops. The school also offers a variety of residencies for emerging and established artists and partners with museums and youth programs to inspire creativity and exploration in glass.