Jasmin Sian
PRESS RELEASE
Jasmin Sian: and the little rhinoceros was happy
19 February – 26 March 2010
Opening reception: Thursday, 18 February, 6 to 8 pm
Anthony Meier Fine Arts is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by New York-based artist Jasmin Sian. Having been included in numerous group shows at the gallery, this is Sian’s first solo exhibition in San Francisco.
Creating delicate floral works on paper through painstaking handwork, the formal characteristics of Sian’s pieces are often more similar to lace embroidery than conventional drawing. Working on an intimate scale, Sian combines exacting renderings of flora and fauna with intricately hand-cut decorative patterns.
The beauty and quiet emotion of Sian’s drawings belie the technical difficulty in their creation. Working in quadrants, Sian maps a general shape for her garlands to allow for a format to work within. She then pencils a drawing in one area of her paper and later folds the surface to obtain the desired symmetry.
Sian’s drawings are infused by the environments in which they are created. During warm weather months, Sian visits parks and gardens throughout New York City and begins her drawings in the moment, marking directly onto thin brown paper deli bags. This immediacy creates a vibrancy in the work that counter-balances its fragility. The in-painting and cutting of the paper occurs during the winter, often featuring a dark palate to match the moody skies.