When was the last time you were beckoned by an artist to get closer to their work and "smell it," as Owen Schmit did when I approached her hair dye on white satin work at OFF WHITE gallery? Owen's paintings will make a willing adventurer out of you every time. And Aaron Frank's reflective pieces, which converse with her sculptural works, are no less wondrous. The artists' collaborative show ME & YOU at the Brooklyn space is a full-throated and intriguing conversation that jumps from literalism to playful abstraction. Owen and Aaron invited me to check it out and chat about it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thalia Forbes: Owen and Aaron, you have talked about your pieces working well together because of their juxtaposing themes of absorption and reflection, respectively.
Aaron Frank: Owen’s work has inherent color while mine is purely site- and perspective- specific, showing only the feedback it's given. In this case, that feedback is Owen’s paintings. Her color informs my colorless reflective surfaces.
Owen Schmit: Another reason it makes sense to see our work together is our investment in investigating particular materials. Experimentation and exchangeable material is crucial when putting together a grouping of pieces. This comes through if you look at each of our bodies of work. I guess you could say it's another form of mirroring––mirroring each other's processes with opposite outcomes, absorptive versus reflective.
TF: Neither of you incorporate unorthodox materials just for oddity's sake. They reflect the pursuits and passions in your everyday lives. Aaron, you love motorcycles. Owen––don't think I haven't been following your ever-changing Day-Glo hair highlights.
AF: I'm not really much of a motorcycle guy other than the fact that I have painted a few in my time. But I started working with glass because I work on cars, and I began noticing a malleability in the material. So I started to bend windshields in different ways, and held them in place with mounts. I'd also take tempered glass (like the kind found in car windows), make different patterns in window tint film, and then break it to make shattered glass panels. From there, I supposed I just got taken away with the material.
The mirroring part came from a separate part of my practice. I have always seen light as a material, from growing up in a darkroom as a child to recent installations I've done. I used to make installations with lasers. Because my studios have always been basements and dark corners, I always needed special types of front surface mirrors to reflect the lasers in different ways. At the time, I needed a special curved piece of mirrored glass that I couldn't find easily. So I decided to teach myself how to make the mirrors. From there I started thinking about special effects, filters, and signs. Mirrors are kind of like living photographs to me.
OS: In terms of material choices for me, the work was highly personalized and very much about self-perception. My interest in using hair dye is twofold, in that dying one's hair (or anything, really) is an alternate form of painting. It becomes another way to alter the surface of something to change its appearance––a special effect. Because mood or tone set in abstraction is so important to me, I found hair dye to be a perfect match. I also love that it leaves room for some humor, kind of like when you see a moody, angsty teenager with bright blue hair.
TF: The theme of collaboration runs strong throughout the show––both of you worked closely with the gallerist, and you were also
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thalia Forbes: Owen and Aaron, you have talked about your pieces working well together because of their juxtaposing themes of absorption and reflection, respectively.
Aaron Frank: Owen’s work has inherent color while mine is purely site- and perspective- specific, showing only the feedback it's given. In this case, that feedback is Owen’s paintings. Her color informs my colorless reflective surfaces.
Owen Schmit: Another reason it makes sense to see our work together is our investment in investigating particular materials. Experimentation and exchangeable material is crucial when putting together a grouping of pieces. This comes through if you look at each of our bodies of work. I guess you could say it's another form of mirroring––mirroring each other's processes with opposite outcomes, absorptive versus reflective.
TF: Neither of you incorporate unorthodox materials just for oddity's sake. They reflect the pursuits and passions in your everyday lives. Aaron, you love motorcycles. Owen––don't think I haven't been following your ever-changing Day-Glo hair highlights.
AF: I'm not really much of a motorcycle guy other than the fact that I have painted a few in my time. But I started working with glass because I work on cars, and I began noticing a malleability in the material. So I started to bend windshields in different ways, and held them in place with mounts. I'd also take tempered glass (like the kind found in car windows), make different patterns in window tint film, and then break it to make shattered glass panels. From there, I supposed I just got taken away with the material.
The mirroring part came from a separate part of my practice. I have always seen light as a material, from growing up in a darkroom as a child to recent installations I've done. I used to make installations with lasers. Because my studios have always been basements and dark corners, I always needed special types of front surface mirrors to reflect the lasers in different ways. At the time, I needed a special curved piece of mirrored glass that I couldn't find easily. So I decided to teach myself how to make the mirrors. From there I started thinking about special effects, filters, and signs. Mirrors are kind of like living photographs to me.
OS: In terms of material choices for me, the work was highly personalized and very much about self-perception. My interest in using hair dye is twofold, in that dying one's hair (or anything, really) is an alternate form of painting. It becomes another way to alter the surface of something to change its appearance––a special effect. Because mood or tone set in abstraction is so important to me, I found hair dye to be a perfect match. I also love that it leaves room for some humor, kind of like when you see a moody, angsty teenager with bright blue hair.
TF: The theme of collaboration runs strong throughout the show––both of you worked closely with the gallerist, and you were also