On view November 3, 2022 – January 22, 2023
Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Forecast, an exhibition of new work by twenty-two artists responding to Sue Wrbican’s public sculpture Buoyant Force. Forecast is on view at the Tephra ICA at Signature gallery November 3, 2022 – January 22, 2023. A reception and artist talk will be held on Friday, November 4 at 6pm at the Signature Apartments in Reston Town Center.
Forecast presents twenty-two image and text works that speak to our collective futures. Far from a singular vision, these predictions span the range from willing the utopic into existence to raising the alarm bells about what may be to come. These predictions, or Buoyant Oracles as they came to be known, were created by a cohort of female identifying artists responding to Sue Wrbican’s public sculpture Buoyant Force, which is located in Reston Town Square Park in Reston, Virginia.
To make these Bouyant Oracles, each artist drew on the imagery, making techniques, and concerns of their own practice to create a pairing of text and image that simmers with energy. For example, Kat Thomspon’s hand made quilts, drawing on her Carribean heritage, combine with the reminder “Stories Matter. Our personal stories matter. They are the chains that connect us one way or another.” While some of these artist look to their past to position themselves for the future, others are fully project themselves into the future they wat to see. Mira Hecht’s bright pink painted circle breaking through a border of jagged white triangles is paired with her fortune cookie like assertion assertion “The glass ceiling long shattered. You will live ina world with gender equality.”
Featured Artists
Rahne Alexander, Nina Q. Allen, Laure Drogoul, Cheryl Edwards, Heloisa Escudero, Maggie Gourlay, Mira Hecht, Kay Hwang, Veronica Jackson, Isabel Manalo, Zia Palmer, Judith Pratt, Asha Santee, Kat Thompson, Jessica Valoris, Naoko Wowsugi, Jessica Kallista, Maria Karametou, Ceci Cole McInturff, Meeting Ground (Susan Main and MJ Neuberg), Lisa Rosenstein, and Nicole Salimbene
The Buoyant Oracle is a playful interactive feature activated by scanning a QR code that provides the opportunity to chat with the sculpture and receive a reading of paired poetry and images. Created by the Playful City Lab at American University in collaboration with Sue Wrbican and Tephra ICA, this feature is a platform by which these twenty-two artists/oracles share their art, thoughts, and spirit with the public Forecast is presented in partnership with Mason Exhibitions from George Mason University. A concurrent exhibition, Cast/Recast, is currently on view at Mason Exhibitions Arlington located at 3601 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA through December 3, 2022. Cast/Recast is a group exhibition of photography, video, sculpture, painting, site-specific installation, and live performative work for select programs.
Special funding for Forecast is provided by the GLB Memorial Fund for the Arts.
Tephra ICA at Signature, located at the Signature apartment building in Reston, VA, is an innovative satellite gallery space that presents a year-round schedule of exhibitions featuring work by local and regional artists as selected by Tephra ICA curatorial staff. The gallery is provided in partnership with Boston Properties and Bozzuto.
Visitors are welcome Tuesday–Saturday from 11am–5pm. The gallery is located at the Signature apartment building at 11850 Freedom Dr, Reston, VA.
Events: Friday, November 4
Venusian Sigil Crafting Workshop with Jessica Kallista, 5:30pm. RSVP Here
Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Friday, November 4 at 6pm
Both events are free and open to the public and will take place at the Signature Apartments.
Pictured at top: Artwork from Forecast by Kat Thompson (left) and Mira Hecht (right)
About Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA)
Tephra ICA is a non-profit, non-collecting institution committed to promoting innovative contemporary art and thinking. Leading with curiosity and care, the organization is a catalyst, generator, and advocate for visual arts.
Tephra ICA is supported in part by ArtsFairfax, Reston Community Center, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tephra ICA
2001 Market St #103
Reston, VA
