I Curated A Show!
The last time I curated a show was sometime in the early 2000s in a basement apartment around Chicago's Wicker Park Neighborhood. No one showed up except for friends. We drank beer, talked art, and smoked weed. There was no real angle or examination of themes or exploration of mediums. Now that I think about it, the whole thing was just an excuse to hangout and get drunk with friends. The idea to take another crack at curation with a serious theme had been on my mind for many years. Of course the big question was/is, " What to focus on? What isn't being said that needs to be addressed?"
I had many titles floating around in my head before I decided on HEAVY. “Weight” was a contender. As was “Gravity” and “Magnitude.” Even “Enormousness” made a brief appearance. But after I learned about my father's diagnosis of Alzheimer's, HEAVY was the only title that seemed adequate. I cannot express how it feels to watch this wonderful man slowly fade in front of me. I have tried to portray the anguish I felt in the small sketch displayed here, but I am unsure of its success.
It is after all, it is only a sketch. Regardless of how the piece may or may not work, once I made it, I wanted to check in on my friends to see how they were doing. If they had HEAVY things in their lives, I wanted to know how they were managing. This exhibition is about artists in Sacramento more than Sacramento art, so its identity heavily depends on the political, cultural, and social weather of the country.
Not limited to one medium or discipline, the HEAVY-ness of this moment is interpreted by artists in a myriad of different ways. These works are self-conscious about their relationship to history, interrogating its gaps, distortions while also reimagining personal growth, profound loss and profound joy. A number of artists included in this show work by reconstructing the styles of earlier movements and bringing them into dialogue with traditions of craft and the handmade.
If you saw the show, bless you and thank you! Getting 18 different artists to fit into one show was sooooooooooo much work! Much more work than I anticipated. I lost just over 6 pounds and averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep per night for about 4 months. But the experience was exhilarating! More of these to come!
Ren Allathkani:
"Hayya Alas-Salah. - a call that beckons people, 'to come to prayer.' it's tone typically soft and sweet, but in the remains of a bombed mosque- it's call was filled with anguish and despair, as prayer is lost and dismantled in rubble and sand. “
Fork In The Road. 36" x 48" Acrylic, Spray Paint, & Pastel On Canvas.
"I feel like everyone can relate to this feeling or moment in life on some level. When there is a decision to be made and these choices can definitely shape or impact your life and your future. Fork In The Road was made during a pivotal time in my life, and it’s this cathartic form of journaling I find through painting that allows me to reflect and see things a little bit more clear. Hopefully folks that are viewing it can reflect and find their own clarity about the truths they need to speak to themselves. Or if anything just enjoy the work."
Carlaina Brown:
Sound Bar VII. 105” x 41” Straws & Acrylic On PVC.
“Sound Bars is a series constructed through fragmentation and the regrouping of repetitive elements. As sound can be transformational to an environment, Sound Bars amplify the transformational power of color. By infusing this heavy moment with the power of color, I hope to energize our efforts with the joy needed to push forward once again, always again, always move forward. “
Shaun Burner:
Untitled. 63” x 88" Spray Paint On Canvas.
"I start these works without knowing the figures that decide to show up. First laying down organic fluid layers and strokes. I step back, and I study the composition, and let it tell me the narrative. It is very much about being present, many times this results in a deep subconscious descend, which is both cathartic and revealing inward. I then proceed with fully elaborating the narrative and entities that present themselves."
Serena Cole:
“ This piece challenges languid sexualized tropes of female imagery from historic to present day media. As women are so often made to be uncomfortable for the pleasure of others, she intentionally repels the gaze of the viewer to the point of discomfort."
Andy Cunningham:
“Subtle shadows and curves play an important role in my work. With this piece, human scale facilitates an intimate relationship with the viewer. “
Doug Cupid:
Doug Cupid:
“ A woman bends over near a basin, her hands immersed in the rhythmic labor of sorting the Nkuto (shea nuts). The weight she carries is not just physical—though the task is demanding and repetitive—but also symbolic. It is the weight of tradition, of sustenance, of history passed from hand to hand.
This image is an exploration of unseen burdens—the ones that sustain families, cultures, and economies, often without recognition. This photograph honors the strength embedded in daily rituals, the dignity of labor, and the intimate connection between body, earth, and legacy. This woman’s bent posture and focused gaze speak to the endurance and grace found in hard work, especially the work done by women whose stories are rarely told.
The shea nut is a small, unassuming seed. Behind its global reach as a source of nourishment, of medical and of cosmetic use lies a quiet network of hands like these—resilient, calloused, and rooted in something deeper than commerce.”
This image is an exploration of unseen burdens—the ones that sustain families, cultures, and economies, often without recognition. This photograph honors the strength embedded in daily rituals, the dignity of labor, and the intimate connection between body, earth, and legacy. This woman’s bent posture and focused gaze speak to the endurance and grace found in hard work, especially the work done by women whose stories are rarely told.
The shea nut is a small, unassuming seed. Behind its global reach as a source of nourishment, of medical and of cosmetic use lies a quiet network of hands like these—resilient, calloused, and rooted in something deeper than commerce.”
Franceska Gámez:
Mothers Carry The Weight of The World. Charcoal On Paper & Birch. 48” x 48“
“Mothers Carry the Weight of the World” honors 8-month-old Leila al Ghandour and the countless Palestinian lives lost to genocide and occupation. The image that inspired this piece was first shared in 2018, shedding light on the unimaginable pain Palestinians have had to endure for decades. Since October 2023, over 17,400 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza, with countless more lost since the Israeli occupation began in 1948. Every child deserves the right to live, to grow, to dream. This is a call for compassion, justice, and an end to the violence.”
Laurelin Gilmore:
Birth Of A Monster I. Oil On Wood. 17.5” x 17.5”
"Much of my work is attempting to remind human beings of their connectivity to nature, their place in the natural world. I usually accomplish that by combining the human figure with elements of animals, insects, or plant material. Sometimes it’s a play on pre-existing symbolism, incorporating the viewer’s prejudices or affinities for certain animals or insects that helps to inform the character of the subject. It can help to further the narrative with short-form references. This creature is a mass of tentacles, which some might associate with something monstrous, something exotic, something alien, something other. But it’s only a baby, just an individual, as full of its own potential as it is of others’ ideas about its potential. The narrative the viewer invents and explores while looking at it is the point."
Joha Harrison:
Untitled. Mixed Media On Canvas. 40” x 30”
“ This painting layers the outline of a bombed mosque in Gaza with torn papers and horses in motion; symbols of collapse and survival. While a woman in a Kaepernick jersey has her back to us, facing into the chaos ahead. Behind her, a photographed woman looks intensely through that outline, locking eyes with the viewer, as if to say: the struggles we turn away from, whether silenced protests or shattered cities - are still looking right back at us in a world we’ve created.”
Jupiter Lockett:
But Dad…Black Lives Matter. Acrylic, Gold Leaf & Collage On Cardboard. 28” x 30”
Gabriel Lopez:
ADHD. 48” x 60” Mixed Media On Canvas.
“ This piece is my visual expression of living with ADHD—where thoughts, emotions, and sensory inputs overlap in a constant, chaotic flow. Each layer reflects a different conversation or feeling happening all at once. The lines pull in opposing directions, the colors clash and harmonize, capturing the tension between focus and distraction. It’s messy, vibrant, overwhelming—and real. For HEAVY, this work represents the unseen mental weight of processing everything, all at once.”
Jennifer Lugris:
You Are My Sunshine Oil & Acrylic On Canvas. 36” x 48” & 24” x 24”
Diana Mothbear:
Pretty Ugly. Metal Wire. 36” x 22”
“The self view as something gross can be made up by giving yourself away but the process only makes you feel worse. People are takers and will take any parts of you they can.“
Ron Musser:
Light & Shadow #2 Limited Edition Photograph 16” x 13”
My father first noticed changes to his ability to concentrate and remember simple tasks in late 2012. Dates, faces, names, measurements, all became " A bit blurry, like that Photoshop tool," as he once told me. If you have ever used the "Gaussian Blur Tool" in Photoshop, you know that you can add motion to a still image with a blur effect. Gerhard Richter "Selbstportrait (Self-portrait)" from 1996 is a good visual representation of what I mean. He concluded that some of the changes to his memory were the natural progression of age. But when he was forgetting how to properly use his photography equipment, when shoots that normally took 1-2 hours were now taking 3-4 hours, he knew something was wrong. The Light & Shadow series from 2012-2013 was my father's way of dealing with the changes he was experiencing.
Dominick Porras:
23” x 31”
“ The sovereign nation of the Tolowa Dee-Ni keeps the traditional practice of harvesting and drying smelt fish in continuation through communal inter-generational and inter-tribal relations. By integrating my netting (weaving) application with the photographic work, I snare my imaginationative approach in presentation.”
Torn Apart. Ceramic. Various Dimensions.
American Family. 18” x 24” overall. Resin, Neon & Found Object.
Tasha Reneé:
"Black clay bodies progressively being squeezed and torn apart by white hands.”
Melissa Uroff:
“ I was thinking about generational trauma, and the heaviness that a family can bring. Thinking about how things have been so hard on connections for the last few years, things like Covid (mask or not to mask) and political beliefs, different views have torn folks apart. But also thinking about even when you tear yourself away from family they are still such a part of you. Like no matter what my mom is always my mom my daughter will always be my daughter and we all have pieces of each other no matter what happens. There is a lot of weight that can come from family and sometimes that is really hard. But no matter how mad I get at my mom when I look in the mirror I still see her eyes looking back at me. She is part of me and I of her. The sculpture is made of body pieces molded from my mom, myself, and my daughter.”
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