Exhibit @ ICA : By a thread:

Friday February 5th was a day of art for the bay area, thanks to "First Friday's" where Downtown San Jose opens their door for free artist receptions of their new exhibits. San Jose's Institute of Contemporary Art's anticipated new exhibit titled "By a thread" featured contemporary artists who used unconventional materials usually defined for art labeled as crafts; sewing materials, pipe cleaners, and the obvious ... thread.

In the beginning I had no expectations of what was going to be shown. As I arrived I was blown away from all the beauty that exuded from what was displayed. All the artists were brilliant in their concepts and methods creating new work unlike that I've seen. Artists that stood out to me were Diem Chao, Beili Lu, and Allison Watkins.

Diem Chao is a beautifully talented Vietnamese artist that created porcelain cups with a silk overlay which she threaded with black and red thread to symbolize connections. a silhouetted hand threaded over a cup is connected by a thin red strand of thread that is sewn into two figures on another cup.

Beili Lu's "Bound #1" was one of the most talked about and praised pieces in the show. The piece was based on the Chinese philosophy of the "red thread of destiny". There was pins tacked into the wall into the form of a silhouette of a human figure. In a corner there was a human figure on the opposing wall, connecting the figures were single pieces of red thread strung from one pin from one silhouette to another pin on the other figure. The figures were strong in form and yet were "connected" by by such fragile threads of destiny.

Allison Watkins made one of the most enchanting pieces. It was a mesmerizing simplistic yet intricately woven piece of work. The piece was based off the histories of old linens from her grandmother. It looks as though she captured a fading memory from her closet. The most inspiring part of her work for me was that this most recent graduate had taught herself to do this at grad school.

It is a great exhibit for all artists of any media. The exhibit runs through May 15th, 2010.