Lightness of Being, Abel Contemporary Gallery,

Stoughton, Wisconsin, Fall 2024

“The Lightness of Being,” a sculptural installation by the artist Adria Arch, transforms Gallery 5 at Able Contemporary into a place of wonder. Upon entering the space the viewer is drawn to gaze upward, captivated by a half-dozen seemingly weightless Cocoons and lengths of narrow leaf-like and ladder-like garlands suspended from the gallery ceiling and rafters.

The shifting, suspended shapes of the Cocoon sculptures range from four to seven feet in height. Their curling edges create a rounded, languorous internal space; a three-to-four-foot circumference in which a human figure might comfortably be held. These lightweight forms, hand-cut from sheets of PVC vinyl, sway softly as air currents move through the gallery. The overlapping painted elements generate a complex formal conversation. The Cocoons, like their silk worm namesakes, suggest an energy that is never quite static, always evolving and offering, the artist hopes, “a place of hope and solace.”

The shimmering surface of the PVC vinyl from which both the Cocoons and garlands are cut invokes the way that the surface of silk both holds and reflects light. Arch is a sophisticated colorist with a long history as a painter. Several years ago, she turned her attention to creating sculpture. The painted surfaces of every element in “The Lightness of Being” showcase Arch’s bravura command of the emotional resonance of color. The shadows cast along the walls and floor of the gallery are an integral component of Arch’s complex intentions; to create a sculptural installation in which the presence of the viewer is not only welcomed, but embraced, and in which the transformative power of art is powerfully felt.

-        Barbara O’Brien

O’Brien, an independent curator and critic based in Milwaukee, is the former Chief Curator and Executive Director of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. She is an elected member of AICA-USA, International Association of Art Critics.