MARCH 03-04 2020
Olga Feshina: Ice Balance, 2020
ICE BALANCE. SELFIE WITH MASK. GALLERY
Installation - mix media
2 x 3 x 3 m / 6.5 x 10 x 10 ft
Paintings Selfie with Mask and Ice Balance - acrylic on canvas; object Ice - polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl; suspended objects Icicles - stone, plexiglass, plastic, silicone, silver, steel
Curator - Lucy McCarron
Pop-Up Show
Data: March 03 - March 04, 2020
104 Gallery, Tribeca, New York
A new body of work by Olga Feshina is three dimensional installation "Ice Balance. Selfie with Mask." The pop-up show curated by Lucy McCarron was held on view in TriBeCa New York, March 3-4, 2020.
Feshina's installation includes a mix of painting paired with suspended objects that transform the perception of art in a limited space. In the work, the artist expands on her subject of technology, imitating computer generated technique in her painting style. The shape of the icicles are in stark contrast to the utmost softness of her brushstroke. Feshina depicts a frozen smirk reminiscent of a landscape. Opposite is a bold smiling portrait covered in a mask of the same icicles as the hanging sculptures. The mask wearing portrait is commenting on the inability for individual health protection, not only because of the current widespread panic of spreading infections in our overpopulated society, but in the stark reality that one cannot avoid the dominance of technology. Perhaps we can wear a transparent mask without hiding a smile as a trendy accessory. The new tech gadget would become a combination of self protection from viruses and from face recognition technology, on a personal level with cell phones to global surveillance.
The artist uses synthetic materials to create her typical pendants as icicle objects, suspended from plastic. They speak to the global climate crisis exacerbated by societal obsession with technology and the high production rate of products causing so much global waste. The installation is staged with plastic recycling trash, reflecting the pale color palette in Feshina’s painting. The artist is presenting the bewitching invasion of technology with a focus on the problem of ice balance and commenting on a move to restrict the excessive use of plastics. Feshina warns that if we are to continue down this road, we must be content to experience a landscape made from polyethylene and polyurethane.
Quite recently, Olga Feshina exhibited works at number of shows and exhibitions in galleries in Tribeca, 1stdibs Gallery in Chelsea (New York). In 2019, her works from ongoing series “New Tech Girls” were exposed at Google’s offices in New York. She had shows “The Internet” at the Shchusev Museum of Architecture (Moscow); Paris sur Mode (Paris); and “Icicles” at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. She created the world’s first sport uniform for chess players as a commission from the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Feshina has been featured in publications, such as W Magazine, Wallpaper, ELLE, Bazaar, FAD Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and others.
Olga Feshina and Lucy McCarron have been working together at a few exhibits and shows in New York and shared artistic vision and passion over the project related to environment and the situation in the World.
