ICON SHOW
The show will be open on First Thursday, March 4, 6-9pm. Open hours after that, TBA.
Inscape Studio + Gallery, 512 NW 9th. New work by illustrator Martin French.
Identity in the modern world is an arena full of visible and invisible conflict. Symbols and stories, styles and associations: everything comes to us already loaded with meaning. Clothes can subtly turn us into living endorsements; body types can be interpreted and projected as a genetic truth directly related to self-worth; our skin tones can signal cultural histories we may not even know. In our world, everything is fair game to be read as symbolic.
An icon, a careful and controlled symbol used to represent something hugely complex, is a study in refusals and assertions. It is a creative act of synthesis that allows the symbol to simultaneously declare, this is what I am and this is what I am not. These creative acts happen all the time. We are all to some degree iconagraphers. Every time you put on your coat or fix your hair -- or refuse to put on your coat or fix your hair -- you are adjusting the lines in your own icon.
Representing ourselves through symbols is, on one hand, an impossible task: we are far too complex of creatures to represent with even thousands of powerful symbols. On the other hand, seeking to represent ourselves in simplicity and truth leads us to grapple with important questions about our nature, our personalities, our purpose, and, ultimately, our Maker.