Color Becomes an Agent of Transmutation in Shaping Color @ VSF in Los Angeles

Photo Credit: Various Small Fires. Diedrick Brackens, Shaping Color, 2023 (installation view), Various Small Fires, Los Angeles. Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.

Photo Credit: Various Small Fires. Diedrick Brackens, Shaping Color, 2023 (installation view), Various Small Fires, Los Angeles. Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.

VSF’s exhibition Shaping Color, conceived by LA-based textile artist Diedrick Brackens, brings together six artists to explore the relationships between color and process in their respective practices. Many works in the exhibition are monochromes or utilize a restricted palette. Historically monochromes often signal an intent to emphasize mastery and skill; also, in parting with all information save the essential, artists attempt to access the ineffable and the spiritual.

Color, as employed by these makers, is intrinsically tied to their mediums and modes of production. Color becomes an agent of transmutation, not just a mere surface or mask for form; these objects are altered in ways that inform their subjects radically and color is treated as material rather than surface or ornamentation.

Shaping Color is on view through September 16 @ VSF, 812 N HIGHLAND AVE, LOS ANGELES

Sarah Crowner, Untitled Orange, 2023, acrylic on canvas, sewn, 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.

Donald Moffet, Lot 080820 (open red), 2020, pigmented epoxy resin, acrylic, wood panel, and steel, 14 x 8 x 5 3/4 in. (35.6 x 20.3 x 14.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. Photo: Joseph Parra. Copyright: © Donald Moffett.

Samantha Bittman, Untitled, 2021, acrylic on hand-woven textile, 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.