NY’s Saya Woolfalk
Tracking current trends in visual art is a pleasure, and it’s a treasure hunt that always leads in multiple directions. It’s simply impossible to follow your nose, because every doorway leads to a hundred more, and there aren’t enough noses in the world for this kind of investigation. It is impossible to avoid New York, though, at least to avoid any reference altogether. Any one artist will eventually lead back to this city, and usually the link is made pretty quickly. There are some critics who will avoid the city at all costs, and then there are those who decide to save some frustration and just go ahead and dive into the belly of the beast.
Fortunately, it’s a very nice beast to visit. Some of the top hotels in the world are in New York, and they make any stay here worth remembering. Hospitality seems to have been invented in this city, or at least perfected. From here, it’s not difficult to get lost following your own instincts into the art world, and every step can lead into diverse and unpredictable new realms. One of the most exciting artists today, then, is Saya Woolfalk who’s been working in multiple directions herself.
Multimedia seems to be a wise path to take for artists today, because it allows for multiple methods of communication. Being able to make work in other forms is every bit as useful as knowing another language, and it serves the same purpose ultimately. Her work has been visual, with examples in painting and in sculpture, and it’s also branched into performance. These paths may not be lucrative, but they will certainly allow for opportunities to make work, and that’s what really counts when an artist like this starts to breathe in the world. Her particular play of symbols is fascinating, and helps to create uncanny and autonomous worlds. It will be interesting to see how it plays with the other works in the Bunny Redux exhibition at the Warhol in Pittsburgh next month.