Feral: Tales of Wicked Women & Wildish Girls
A Collaborative installation by SWOON & Monica Canilao
The Luggage Store Gallery
San Francisco, CA
21 March - 26 April 2008

by Tonya Warner

In an interview, the artist behind SWOON has said of her nom de plume that it was once a euphemism for women passing out as a result of constrictive fashion. How fitting then that she and Monica Canilao have created a show entitled “Feral: Tales of Wicked Women & Wildish Girls.” The word “feral” refers to something that had been domesticated returning to the wild – an interesting premise for an artist who is known for her work addressing urban life and the living city. New York-based SWOON and Oakland resident Monica Canilao converge at the Luggage Store, creating works both alongside one another and in collaboration. What they have created in the gallery is a space that alludes to stumbling upon an encampment in the woods – one made of cast off pieces of the more “civilized.” However, there is no sense of intrusion or danger here – instead, the gallery has been transformed into a site of wonder and discovery.

SWOON, whose work revolves around the experience of space, consciously conceives her gallery shows in a way that is divorced, although not entirely foreign, to the time-based public wheat pasted works that she is known for. Both artists share an interest in the interaction between spaces and their inhabitants/users as well as the passage of time and a sense of impermanence. They also address a sense of domesticity that is at odds with Better Homes and Gardens. Canilao’s focus on craft-based sculpture and collage plays well off SWOON’s emphasis on portraiture of both people and cities.

In the middle of the gallery, the women have built a tree house of scrap wood, cardboard, feathers, hair, lace and other cast off “feminine” materials. There are also piles of other discarded materials, grounding the artworks in a sense of invented environment – this is more freeform installation than a collection of independent works.

The space is filled with an air of a history of non-traditional women, redefining how one creates and maintains domesticity, as well as a questioning of the idea of the utopian city that is so well planned it is unlivable. This is achieved not only through the use of reclaimed materials but the appearance of elements that seem to take on the role of talismans, tokens, and shrines. Old pieces of newspaper and lace serve as mementos in this invented world, where every element seems carefully placed and stitched together in a very intuitive manner.

SWOON’s meticulously created paper cuts and prints are stunning and the use of atmosphere to evoke ideas and emotions is quite effective. Within this magical invented landscape, one is invited to think of the figure of the wild, wicked woman – a role invented by a society unable to accept difference. A role which, in its very difference and defiance, is here embraced and celebrated.

http://www.luggagestoregallery.org/

http://www.luggagestoregallery.org/index.php?set_albumName=
album56&option=com_gallery&Itemid=53&include=view_album.php

http://www.monicacanilao.com/

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