Gallery doors will open at 6:00 pm and close at 6:05 pm for the duration of the performance. Please, no flash photography in the gallery.
As part of A View Within: Works by Paula Chung and Karen Rips, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is pleased to present The Power of Healing through Art, an evening of performance, presentation, and discussion about art therapy and its effects on the body and mind.
In the exhibition of their fiber works, artists Paula Chung and Karen Rips interpret MRIs, X-rays, and other diagnostic images that they hope will allow visitors to meditate on their own lived experiences. The artists have spoken about how their finished textiles have become a form of catharsis for many of the medical imaging contributors, often allowing them to open up and speak about their illnesses (some for the first time). Art, whether performative, visual, or auditory, can be therapeutic for people who are struggling with difficult and challenging situations. This program explores the different ways in which art therapy can heal and the relationships it can foster.
Dance artist Jennifer Mabus and sound artist Lynn Lane will present fading…, a multimedia performance about Alzheimer’s disease. In this piece, Mabus was inspired by a family member’s struggle with the disease. By abstracting the idea of memory and identity through her dance performance, she creates a physical experience of loss to help convey the challenges that one encounters with this disease.
Camilo Gonzalez, Media Arts Education Manager at Aurora Picture Show, will introduce Star Guides, a digital film project created with the Arts In Medicine Program at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital. Along with contributors, Aishu Venkataraman, Sharad Patel, and Ian Cion, Gonzalez led a year-long collaboration with pediatric patients to create a collaged animation of original artwork. He will present the film and discuss the project.
A brief panel discussion will follow, led by HCCC Curator, Kathryn Hall and Programs Assistant, Hayley McSwain.
About the Artists
Jennifer Mabus
Jennifer Mabus, MFA, is a Texas-based choreographer, educator, and performer who has presented work in various venues in New York City and Texas, in Noble Motion Dance’s Next Step series, and as the 2015 Rice University Artist-in-Residence. Mabus has also collaborated with the artist Lynn Lane on various sound and performance-art projects in 2016. She’s been fortunate to perform with Robert Battle’s Battleworks (soloist), Takehiro Ueyama, John Beasant III, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, Noble Motion Dance, and the Bruce Wood Dance Project. She currently resides in Houston and teaches developing artists at Houston’s HSPVA, San Jacinto Community College, Met Dance Company, and Hunter Dance Center.
Lynn Lane
Lynn Lane is a multi-disciplinary artist living in Houston, Texas. Since moving back to Houston from NYC, he has received many awards here including being named one of the “Top 100 Creatives” as well as the “Best Photographer in Houston” by the Houston Press. He is the official photographer for the Houston Grand Opera, shoots for the Alley Theatre, dance companies from all over the world and his own documentary art. As an artist/photographer he has had his work exhibited published extensively, created documentary films (was represented in London and NYC for his documentary work and has written for International Documentary Magazine) as well as having curated exhibitions. As a sound artist, Lynn primarily works with field recording, found sounds and manipulated instruments acoustic and electronic to create layered soundscapes.
Camilo Gonzalez
Camilo Gonzalez works in Houston as an artist, arts administrator and educator. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in in photography and digital media from the University of Houston and is the current media arts and education manager at Aurora Picture Show. His interests in film, video, and electronic media have led him to work with various organizations, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Menil Collection; and other local institutions. Presently, Gonzalez is a part of the education initiative of Aurora Picture Show to integrate arts and technology in different settings, like hospitals and refugee homes.
Above, from left to right: Jennifer Mabus. Photo by Lynn Lane. Stills from “Star Guides.” Photo courtesy Aurora Picture Show.
