Constructed Communication: Nakayama, Sinbondit, Venom

Picking up threads of the handmade in our impersonal digital era, Kenji Nakayama, Amy Sinbondit and Ben Venom utilize traditional craft techniques to construct objects that communicate in nontraditional ways: through symbols, through lettering and through gestures. These three artists stem from different traditions, each with a long history, each with a unique vocabulary, each with a self-contained community of practice. These communities are often closed, accessible only to those who speak an almost secret dialect of ceramics, quilting or sign-painting.

Nakayama, Sinbondit, and Venom seek to open these communities of practice by creating works that communicate not only their mastery of construction, but also embedded messages legible to those beyond the community boundaries. They demystify the secrets of their respective crafts by speaking in a variety of ways with different forms.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website