By Meg Linton
As things are opening back up, yet again, I’ve been venturing out to look at art. I wound up in San Pedro and discovered Cornelius Projects, a contemporary art space run by artist and curator Laurie Steelink who shines a light on artists living and/or working in this seaside community located on Tongva Territory. The current exhibition on view through March 26, 2022 is called DUST & WISPS and features watercolors by Michelle Seo, paintings by Daniel Porras, and a jointly conceived ceramics installation. The artists have their studios at Angels Gate Cultural Center, which is a few minutes away from Cornelius Projects and worth a visit for the art and stunning ocean view. Also be sure to walk down to the community pool area and see the tiled mural by Elyse Pignolet.
The moment I entered Cornelius Projects, I was uplifted and drawn in by the swirling color, humor, and vulnerability in Seo and Porras’s artwork. Each body of work reflects on their individual cultures, Korean and Peruvian, and experiences as artists living in conflicted times. I found myself filled with joyful curiosity as I dove into Seo’s tightly rendered dream sequence of a surrealist, down-the-rabbit-hole, existential trip called DUST. The protagonist travels through fantastical landscapes, both magnificent and anxiety-ridden, and the reoccurring smiley faces, tigers, and dust-filed vases inspire Jungian interpretations of this heroine’s mind-blowing journey. This word-less story is being published as a graphic novel and is a thoughtful, abstracted reflection on living through a pandemic with a grandmother battling dementia.
Porras’s diaphanous creatures engage in mysterious activities as they melt into and emerge from their brightly colored surroundings. The texture and quality of his central figures and the fluid relationship to their environment immediately brought to mind George Sander’s novel Lincoln in the Bardo. In particular, the way the characters would congeal and evaporate as their limbo world dictated. The bright indigenous colors draw the viewer into the image and the titles of the paintings give you some indication of what the protagonist might or might not be doing or battling. The work is in the twilight realm when the veil between worlds is thin, and skies change color, and things aren’t always what they seem.
The energy of the two-dimensional work carries over into their joint ceramic installation. They each contributed vibrant and worthy chimaeras to create a haphazard procession of misfits from two distinct worlds. The clay creatures share the same pedestal plain, but why they are there together remains an unanswered question. DUST & WISPS is a show worthy of a visit, and it will be interesting to see how these two artists evolve over time. There is a special event on Saturday, February 26 from 3pm to 6pm to celebrate the release of Michelle Seo’s comic book DUST and Daniel Porras’s show zine. San Pedro’s Herman Dune will be performing and all are welcome.
If you make the trip to San Pedro, before you go be sure to call head to confirm hours of operation and COVID-19 protocols for both Cornelius Projects (310-266-9216) and Angles Gate Cultural Center. Also check out other institutions in the area like the Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach Museum of Art and the City of Long Beach’s stunning Billy Jean King Main Library.
Meg Linton is an independent visual arts curator, writer, and documentary film producer. She is best known for the exhibitions, programs, and publications she organized during her tenure as the Director of Galleries and Exhibitions at the Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles; Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum; and Curator of Exhibitions at the University Art Museum at CSU Long Beach. You can find her on IG @meg_linton
