Rays of Light: New work by Nadia Yaron
Nadia Yaron turns her attention skyward — to the crepuscular rays that break through cloud cover in fan-like shafts, colloquially known as God rays. It’s a subject that feels like a natural arrival in her practice: like a fallen leaf or a pink iris pushing through spring snow, which have long anchored her work, these are phenomena defined by their transience, and by their resistance to being held. What Yaron does, characteristically, is find a way to hold them anyway — translating the momentary into the carved and weighted permanence of stone, wood, and metal.
The seven sculptures in this new series move between two experiential registers: some pieces capture light as it radiates outward in open, reaching forms, while others are focused on the bodily act of looking up — the warmth absorbed, the glow taken in. This duality reflects the push and pull at the heart of Yaron's process, in which the violent force of chainsaw and grinder gives way to days of slow, repetitive hand-sanding, one curve at a time. The imperfection she courts is not incidental but structural; it is what keeps these sculptures in honest conversation with their source.
Words
- Rosa Park
Photos
- Rich Stapleton
Related
- 12.16.23
100 Hooks - JB Blunk
Read moreNadia Yaron's Gratitude Flower for JB (2023) is part of ‘100 Hooks’, a group exhibition at Blunk Space featuring over 100 esteemed artists and designers from the US, UK, Europe, Mexico, and Japan. The show is a continuation of JB Blunk’s seminal 1981 solo exhibition ‘100 Plates Plus’ held at David Cole Gallery in Inverness, California. In a nod to his training in Japan, Blunk’s plates denied the distinction between art and craft. Blunk enacted a particular synthesis of art and the objects of life, creating these functional objects thoughtfully and artfully throughout his career.
This exhibition consists of 100 different responses to the same brief: to create one hook of any size or material. Hooks, like plates, are utilitarian objects. Each participating artist and designer was invited as a result of an existing connection with Blunk’s work. From exhibiting at Blunk Space, a residency at his iconic home and studio, or through the inspiration of his oeuvre, each participant has been touched by Blunk’s legacy. Each of the artists and designers offers their own approach to materials, form, and process, but also the relationship of aesthetics to function.