Ambiguity: Michal Fargo • Susan Metrican • Chase Travaille

Boston, September 22, 2022 - LaiSun Keane is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Michal Fargo, Susan Metrican and Chase Travaille titled Ambiguity on view from October 7 to November 13, 2022. An in person Opening Reception will be held on Friday, October 7 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm and a virtual Artist Talk via Zoom on October 23 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm.

This exhibition is a presentation of works which engage with interpretation of form and context. Each artist brings their rich and deeply personal narratives to their work, employing their chosen medium in critical and creative ways.

Michal Fargo, born in Israel and now lives and works in Berlin, Germany, communicates her conflicted identity and experiences as an immigrant through her clay sculptures. Her work although vessel based which is a concept deeply rooted in the ceramic field is a departure from the tradition. She constructs sculptures that imitate nature, yet the addition of “flocking” alters the surface reminiscent of domestic objects. Development of her unique process is connected to her own journey as a person born in Israel, a young secular state, yet belonging to the Jewish faith with thousands of years history of displacement and conflict. Moving from home to study in London, UK at the Royal College of Arts and now living in Berlin, Germany, her place in the world is in constant flux. Her work reflects much of this narrative, straddling the new and the old, tradition, innovation, identity and belonging. She received a MA from The Royal College of Art, London, was a 2019 Loewe Craft Prize finalist, and she has exhibited in the USA and worldwide.

Susan Metrican’s work expands on the idea of the culturally familiar by using motifs that are seemingly shared across cultures and traditions such as plants and animals. Metrican, a Thai American who grew up in the American midwest, provokes conversation in her work using easily identifiable motifs rendered to look like wallpaper or quilt sans flatness. The personal stories as suggested in the titles of her work give a rich meaning to each painting, both uniquely personal and universal at the same time. The works in this exhibition continue to push the boundary of painting as she gives the work a three dimensional quality. In addition, incorporating non- paint materials such as textile, leather and thread and having the materials overflow the perimeter of a canvas, thus turning them into sculptural work which she displays both on walls and on support systems. Metrican is connected to Boston, MA having been the Curator of the Kniznick Gallery at Brandeis University in Waltham MA. She holds a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt). She has completed a residency at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She lives and works in Fairfield Iowa.

Chase Travaille’s newest body of work, Shard Amphora, is a response to the events of 2020 and its lingering aftermath. Travaille “Frankensteins” together shards from unsuccessful firings discarded by other artists he collected at his recent residency at Archie Bray in Montana, and repurposed to make sculptures of his own interpretations. At first, stemming from utter necessity to improvise a way to continue making work in the absence of a kiln, now evolved into a much more metaphorical approach to present ideas of sculptural work that comments on his cultural background, steeped in Southern formalities which at times counter with his experiences as a member of the queer community. Making and finding meaning for the artist is, “Dark humor, transgressive thoughts and desires...articulated in works that invite a dialogue concerning sexuality, social class, and material impossibility.“ Travaille received his BFA from Kansas City and MFA from Alfred University. He recently completed a long term residency at Archie Bray Foundation in Montana. He lives and works in Arkansas.