We are happy to announce Abandoned Wishes, an exhibition by Gwynessa Balvanz, as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.
Gwynessa Balvanz is a visual artist specialised in painting and scupture. Living and working in San Francisco, she received her BA degree at University of California Santa Cruz, and then her MFA degree at Mills College Oakland California.
Her work has been shown constantly in California. In her work, she examines her own vulnerabilities, and pulls from many practices like science, poetry, and ikebana to transform the feeling of vulnerability into art.
Here are some words from the artist herself.
This series is a visual observation of Japan’s abandoned wishes. I am studying Japanese wishing objects, including Daruma Dolls and the paper wishes Omikuji. This as an extension of my domestic version of the series. The ritual of wishing is quite strange and often elaborate, yet the similarities of human interaction with such objects is fascinating. We bequeath wishing objects our most intimate desires and then abandon them; leaving them to a fate of time, weather, the unknown or in the case of Japan often fire.
Gwynessa Balvanz Abandoned Wishes
Date: January 28 (Thursday) to January 30 (Saturday), 11:00 to 19:00, free entrance
* We will hold an closing party on Saturday the 30th, starting at 15:00.
* There is a felting workshop for kids at 13:00 on the 30th (booking required, click here for further details).