JAVA.Feb.2019

of natural forms that mix the visual references
of geometry, stratigraphy and topography. As
diagrams, the works seem to operate wholly
under their own logic. Estrella Payton Esquillin’s
material assemblages borrow from mapping and
architecture. The disparate components of these
collages – painter’s tape, graph paper, blueprints
– undergo a kind of poetic classification in the
short text fragments that caption each work. In
the two works on paper by Danielle Hacche, the
artist arranges shapes and lines into balanced
configurations that resemble physics diagrams.
The only video work in the show, Tokology by
Ashley Czajkowski, is an homage to Dr. Alice B.
Stockham, whose 1888 book of the same title
foregrounded her as a radical figure in obstetrics
and gynecology. Projected onto the top of an
antique table, the video features a narrator
perusing the blurred-out book, providing focus
on its pages with a magnifying glass. A distorted
voice reciting fragments of the book’s passages
becomes a ritualistic hum. The work grapples with
the relationship between women’s bodies and
the medical industry, favoring a more natural and
spiritual approach.
A sense of he transformative reverberates
throughout the show. Works by Annie Lopez and
Katharine Leigh Simpson turn paper into wearable
garments that convey identity. Sam Fresquez’s
Nesting, a hand-cut paper tunnel situated in the
center of the gallery, delicately catches light
as you move around it. Cece Cole’s installation
exemplifies paper’s materiality and plays with
luminance, transparency and shadow. Arizona Fault
Line by Beth Ames Swartz, the only work not made
in the last several years, floats on the wall yet
embodies the weight of volcanic rock.
Paper is presented in this exhibition as a material
that knows no bounds and has an extensive range
of implications. Not only can it serve as a stand-in
for other materials, such as fabric, metal or glass,
but its status as a foundation of our everyday lives
(which, today, might often be overlooked) positions
it as one of the most important inventions in
human history.
In, On and Of Paper
January 18 through March 9, 2019
Bentley Gallery
215 E. Grant Street, Phoenix
www.bentleygallery.com
Photos: John Dowd, Clutch Photos
JAVA 19
MAGAZINE