IYVONE KHOO, PINAR YOLDAS
ABSENCE OF MYTH
January 4 – February 29, 2020
Public opening Saturday, January 4 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm (artists present)
First Thursday art walk February 6 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
THE WORK
Absence of Myth includes new video, digital prints and sculptures by artist Iyvone Khoo, and 3D and 2D prints by Pinar Yoldas. These two artists offer different but related propositions for what could come next for humans and species whose fates hang in our balance. Khoo uses detritus from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as a focal point to examine our unwillingness to accept a co-equal role in the natural environment. Yoldas poetically imagines our role in shaping human evolution and capabilities, presenting “designer babies” altered by the characteristics of ancient Greek deities. Both artists intermingle a grounding in natural science and biology with social critique, rendering idiosyncratic works of unusual beauty.
THE ARTISTS
Iyvone Khoo (b. 1975, Singapore) is a multi-disciplinary artist currently based in London. Concerned with ephemerality, containment and the transitory nature of existence, Khoo uses lens-based media to produce video, light and glass sculptures and installation. Khoo’s awards include the MEAD Fellowship from the University of Arts London (2013), which allowed her to work with bioluminescent algae and phytoplankton in collaboration with scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Infinity Cube, an immersive installation presented at the Birch Aquarium, resulted from this collaboration. Khoo’s works are housed in both public and private collections including the Wellcome Trust, UK. Khoo holds an MFA from Central Saint Martins and Certificate in Digital Media from Northwest Vista College.
Pinar Yoldas (b. 1979, Turkey) is an artist, designer, researcher and assistant professor at UC San Diego. Her architectural installations, kinetic sculpture, sound, video and drawing develops within biological sciences and digital technologies, with a focus on post-humanism, eco-nihilism, and feminist technoscience. Yoldas is a 2015 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow in the Fine Arts and a 2016 Future Emerging Arts and Technologies (FEAT) Awardee recipient. She holds a PhD from Duke University, a BArch from Middle East Technical University, MA from Bilgi University, MSc from Istanbul Technical University and MFA from University of California, Los Angeles where she worked at the Art|Sci Center and the UCLA Game lab.
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PRESS
Beneath the surface seductions (review) - Laurel Reed Pavic, Oregon ArtsWatch
VizArts Monthly: Art to see in January - Oregon ArtsWatch
8 art exhibits bring a touch of beauty to this Portland winter - The Oregonian