MCAD MFA 2018 alum and former program faculty Zoe Cinel has a solo exhibition at Second Shift Studio, part of their year-long residency with the gallery. Less is Enough features multimedia artwork that explores Zoe’s experience with chronic illness and care through an individual and community lens.
I caught the opening reception at the Second Shift gallery on May 17 and found several spots for chatting with others, sitting with a book from the library of materials chosen by the artist, or just experiencing the artwork quietly by yourself. The main gallery space was lined with huge photographs, larger-than-life images of floral arrangements in glass containers of muddy water, past their prime and dropping crispy petals onto the tables and sofas they were captured on. Each arrangement held a pharmaceutical drug nestled into the arrangement somewhere. Despite the recurring theme of decay and hints of neglect, the arrangements were beautiful and inspired awe through their scale and the persistent delicacy of the flora through its later stages of life.
A sofa and the nooks near the large front windows were lined with pillows and held soft, plushie textile pieces with instructions on how to warm them in the microwave. These pieces, Rest with Me and Heating Pads, invited visitors to the gallery to take comfort: a huge pillow with arms, a hat, a scarf, and a pair of shorts were all available for us to warm and snuggle up in. (May 17 was a warm evening so I didn’t try the heating pads, but they looked incredibly inviting.) Both pieces were situated near a library filled with content chosen by the artist; all the titles seemed to be related to chronic illness, care, and community.
The final piece was separated from the photographs and communal space with a floor-to-ceiling curtain. Self Portrait with Flare was a huge, amorphous, vertical shape hanging from the ceiling, alongside a video with audio of Zoe speaking about their experience of being ignored by medical professionals before being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), finding community with people of all ages experiencing chronic pain, and the short and long effects of the disease on their body and life. I don’t want to tell you more about Self Portrait with Flare (and I didn’t include any photographs) because I really think you should go see it yourself. But I will say: I was reminded equally of a distressed spinal column and the enemy Jenova from Final Fantasy 7*.
I hope I have piqued your interest to see Less is Enough yourself, and I really hope you head over to the Art Soup + Artist Talk happening at Second Shift on Friday, May 26, 5:30-7:30pm (yes, that’s tonight!). Also coming up: Conversations About Care on June 10, 10:30am-12pm, which is a smaller, more intimate chance to talk with the artist and community, or to just be in the space (registration required by June 5). If you want to see the show or attend the Conversations About Care event, email zoe.cinel@gmail.com to schedule an appointment or register.
*For the FF7 uninitiated or just people who socialized more than me when they were young, Jenova is basically a science experiment with human cells and looks like a big blob in various stages of development.
