Statement
For this show, Holly presents fiber and drawing based installations, assemblages and works on paper to reclaim the female body and bear witness to the spirit. These works range in size from intimate pieces to larger immersive works. Holly uses a variety of fabric and flexible drawing surfaces as her medium, applying the skills passed down to her from her mother, a talented seamstress. Holly’s work memorializes her mother whom she lost to alcoholism and domestic violence.
The namesake work in the exhibition “Guardian of the Spirits” is a sewn patchwork of silk, organza, cellophane, and foil with transparencies that involve a kaleidoscope of images and memories. Her process is to create a transparent base which she then sews, cuts and sews back together again. Afterwards, she layers bloodlines or veins upon these surfaces using darker patterning so that it journeys through the metaphorical body of the work. This piece at once references the practice of cutting and starving oneself but also the power of mending and transforming.
Colorado State University Curfman Gallery
Lory Student Ctr, Fort Collins, CO 80523
April 4-May 26, 2023
Artist Talk
Press
Guardian of the Spirits Gallery Embraces Femininity by Christian Arndt, The Rocky Mountain Collegian. April 12, 2023
Holly Wong Guardian of the Spirits, Art Spiel online blog feature by Etty Yaniv. May 3, 2023
https://artspiel.org/holly-wong-guardian-of-the-spirits/
Images
Installation view featuring "She" and two works from the "Deconstructed Quilt" series. Photo courtesy of Wes Magyar.
Installation view of "Guardian of the Spirits." Photo courtesy of Wes Magyar.
Installation view featuring three works from the "Icarus" series. Photo courtesy of Wes Magyar.
Installation view of two works from the "Deconstructed Quilt" series. Photo courtesy of Wes Magyar.