Steven Torres, Min Kyu Kim and Christine Cassano
IN FLUX Cycle 8
IN FLUX Cycle 8 includes 10 artworks in six cities across the Valley, including three pieces here in Scottsdale. They will be on view through March 31, 2020. IN FLUX provides opportunities for local artists to create site-specific, temporary public art installations.
Artists
MARE EQUUS ET FERRO MACHINA by Steven Torres
I think of my sculptures as relics from an alternate timeline. They are inspired by organic forms and mechanical devices merged into unique arrangements. While I use a variety of new and scavenged elements integrated into the artwork, the repurposed items give the sculpture a hint of age. I search for objects with a natural patina to enhance the character of the piece. It is my intention to make the work appear as if it could really function as a mechanical creature, rather than just be a static object. I start with a general idea of what the sculpture should be, but the final design is dictated by the objects available as my palette. — Steven Torres
Phoenix-based sculptor Steven Torres has been refining his craft in steampunk-inspired creations for the past several years. He received a bachelor of fine arts in sculpture from Florida State University, where he primarily worked in cast metals. Torres has since shifted his focus to creating sculptures from items destined for the landfill or scrapyard. His work is the result of what can be sourced from the detritus of civilization, combined with custom-made components to create something entirely new. His love for machinery and a desire to reduce human impact on the environment has led him to create fantastic creatures and curious objects of a mechanical nature. The pseudo-mechanical artifacts he creates breathe new life into discarded objects, thus saving them from eternal banishment.
Installation: April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020
Location: Via Linda just east of the 101/Pima Freeway
8875 E Vía Linda, Scottsdale, AZ 85258
A Quiet Place by Min Kyu Kim
The observation of actions and scenes taking place around me is one of my favorite activities, and my artistic inspirations often come from those visual experiences, especially when it comes to people’s social interactions, how they look in a glance, what they are doing, their gestures, their facial expressions, and their outfits. Every element that represents an individual intrigues me.
The headless figures are derived from my experience living in Korea and Japan, where one of the most interesting sights was watching countless people in identical outfits, such as suits and uniforms. The irony of the most common method to express individuality being suppressed by uniformity of the mob led me to create headless figures to remove the presence of individual identity. Likewise, either with my bare senses or through a screen, all the unpredictable and unique elements of nature inspire me. Aged trees have always overwhelmed my mind, and the feeling of how small we are in comparison impacts me profoundly Therefore, juxtaposed to the headless human forms, the tree represents a completely opposite theme—they are the incarnation of the freedom of wild nature.
From these two distinct ideas, I have developed a series of “scenes” with surreal atmospheres. However, instead of providing a fixed explanation, I let the viewers visually inspect, interact with, and discuss the scenes, as I respect the fact that every individual’s experience is different and unique.
Then, I just love to watch and listen. — Min Kyu Kim
Min Kyu Kim grew up in South Korea and earned a bachelor of fine arts at University of West Georgia. He is currently enrolled in Arizona State University’s master of fine arts program. Kim is a contemporary artist, who makes moderate-sized figurative sculptures, mostly working with metal casting and wood carving. Each figure in his work is a symbol derived from his personal experiences and perspectives and then developed into a series of works with bizarre scenes intended to generate discussions amongst viewers. However, he does not provide a fixed narration to the viewers. Because Kim respects the fact that every individual’s experience is different and unique, he invites the viewers to inspect, interact, and discuss his works as he watches these interactions and listens to the viewers’ comments.
Installation: April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020
Location: NE Corner of Scottsdale Rd. and Roosevelt St.
1005 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85257
Transversing Sonoran Connections by Christine Cassano
My time spent as a researcher within the environmental industry left me with an enormous curiosity for investigating our civilization’s impacts on the planet’s ecological structures and systems. My work explores these impacts by transversing mapped connections between humanness, technology, and ecology. While examining our own place within the making and unmaking of planetary life, my work is a survey of pervasive patterns and collages of textures created by human advancements and digital connectivity. My work serves to engage our present ideas and perceptions regarding cultural progress while offering a reconsideration of our future destiny within this globalized, hyper-connected era. — Christine Cassano
Christine Cassano is a visual artist who exhibits her work locally, nationally, and internationally. Recent exhibitions include Durden and Ray in Los Angeles, Gebert Contemporary in Scottsdale, Phoenix Art Museum, and Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. Cassano is a recipient of the 2018 Research and Development Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2016, she was awarded the Contemporary Forum Artists’ Grant from the Phoenix Art Museum, supported in part by the Nathan Cummings Foundation Endowment, and in 2015 was a grant recipient of Phoenix Institute of Contemporary Art, resulting in a published artist catalog of her work. Her public art installations and commissioned works are in various collections throughout the United States, including University of West Georgia, Marriot Companies, and Banner Health Hospital. Cassano is represented by Gebert Contemporary in Scottsdale.
Installation: April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020
Location: NE Corner of Scottsdale Rd. and Oak St.
2301 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85257