Aether & Earth: Sensing the Imperceptible

Curatorial Statement

"Aether & Earth: Sensing the Imperceptible" presents a carefully orchestrated dialogue between three

contemporary artists whose practices converge on the liminal spaces between the visible and invisible, the tangible and ephemeral. Bianca Valencia Criscuolo, Katie Southworth, and Emily Swift employ distinctly different methodologies—yet their collective investigation into the dimensions of experience creates a cohesive meditation on perception, memory, and the unseen forces that govern our relationship to the world.

Criscuolo's interdisciplinary practice synthesizes visual and textual elements through muted chromatic vocabularies and biomorphic forms. Her integration of poetic language creates a palimpsest of meaning, where image and word function as archaeological layers revealing deeper temporal narratives. This approach resonates with Gaston Bachelard's assertion in The Poetics of Space that "the world is not always what we see, but what we see through the lens of our imagination." Criscuolo's work operates as a bridge between the material and metaphysical, inviting viewers into contemplative spaces where ancient questions and personal memory intersect. Southworth's chromatic investigations pursue an entirely different trajectory, employing saturated color fields and non-representational compositions to access direct sensory experience. Her practice deliberately circumvents narrative content, instead pursuing what Mark Rothko described as the liberation of "painting from all obstacles of memory, association, and knowledge."  Swift's analog photographic practice explores the sediments of time through the mastery of darkroom processes. Her investigations of form, decay, and endurance transform the photograph from document to meditation, revealing what Susan Sontag termed photography's capacity to "impound reality." 

Collectively, these works challenge viewers to acknowledge the constant presence of imperceptible forces—whether spiritual, emotional, sensory, or temporal—they continuously shape our understanding of reality.