Firewood

Firewood Aidar Ishemgulov on view at PS1 Close House: October 16 – November 21 opening reception: Friday, October 16, 6-8pm open gallery hours: T/Th 5-7p, Fri/Sa 11a-1p ARTIST STATEMENT: The wood sculptures included in this exhibition (oak, cherry, and ash) have been made over the course of nearly five years of my living in Iowa City. The sculptures reflect several themes: biblical stories, Greek myths, sports, and others. The process of creating sculpture is quite lengthy, and in order not to lose the relevance of what is happening around us sometimes (when it feels like the scenes from Animal Farm — absurdity, ignorance, all kinds of the negative things that have surfaced), I started making short videos of what I have been doing in my workshop. The exhibition title — Firewood — is as a reflection on finiteness of life. We want to live it brightly, like fire, but not as quickly as firewood.