Open Studio
Open Studio | Jackson Hole, WY
Local artist Suzy Kellems Dominik will open her Jackson Hole art studio to the community, debuting three bodies of work conceived and developed while living in the Gros Ventre Wilderness. The artist welcomes the public for an open studio visit, Saturday, September 9th from 5-9PM MT.
The artist’s in-town studio is housed in the newly-transformed service station located at the corner of Cache and Mercill in the heart of Jackson: 315 N Cache Street, Jackson, Wyoming 83001.
In her work, Kellems Dominik explores themes of feminism, trauma and healing. The human body is at the center of her practice, celebrating and glorifying its form and simultaneously addressing themes such as the gendered expectations of society, voyeurism, and objectification.
The three bodies of work on view in the artist’s studio pose different implications, consequences, and interpretations of the human experience and the struggle to be seen, heard and valued as an individual.
Please email ellie@hayworth.co for inquiries or a studio appointment.
PREVIEW THE ART:
Objectify, 2022-2023, Sculpture and Photography Series
The anchor of the open-studio is the world debut of a new design and photography installation, Objectify, that directly responds to the ever-present objectification of the body.
The three-part presentation features an anthropomorphic bar, bar stools, and series of sculptural bottle toppers modeled after a live subject utilizing 3D modeling and printing technology. The collection also features four monumental upholstered folding screens in the Rococo style that introduce feminist symbols and a poem by the artist, all digitally-printed on velvet. Positioned alongside the anthropomorphic furniture, the screens create a captivating tableau.
The Objectify photographic series is on view in a salon-style exhibition, glorifying and monumentalizing the male subject in the form of Narcissus amidst the Aspens, as seen through the artist’s gaze. The subject is heroicized and idealized as an object of pleasure, as a deliberate foil to depictions — often of the female body — in a bound or submissive state. As one follows the narrative sequence through the 12 photographs, the subject is depicted in a state of voyeurism, a state of repose, and ultimately a state of liberation.
Rapture (20:50 to 20:53), 2020, Spoken Word and Movement Performance
Captured in-the-round using an aerial drone and transformed into a short film, Rapture explores the impact of trauma and grief, both past and present, through spoken word and movement.
The performance was recorded in Gros Ventre Wilderness in Wyoming, during the time of the shelter-in-place mandates in 2020. Choreographed by Kellems Dominik, Rapture (20:50 to 20:53) aligns rhythmically with a poem, a retrospective contemplation on one's emotional journey from profound loss to elation.
Bear Attack (2015), Sculptural Installation and Photography
Bear Attack is a sculptural installation and photography series consisting of a large-scale photographic triptych and “The Cabinet of Curiosities,” all posited as accoutrements of the “urban bear.”
Bear Attack describes a journey to the shadow world where men hold the same dangerous attributes as bears. Men have the tendency to savagely transform and become “the bear” that walks among us: the aggressor, the abuser.
A national park sign that Kellems Dominik came across while hiking in Jackson, Wyoming read “Be alert. Make noise. Carry bear spray. Avoid hiking alone. Do not run,” which inspired the series.