Of Word, Of Skin

Opening Reception Friday October 19th 8 pm

Access is pleased to present Of Word, Of Skin - an installation by Kim Huynh in which the artist investigates the relationship between labor and syntax through the symbolism of the top hat. The top hat, generally believed to represent authority or reason, is deconstructed semantically and materially. A print mural, text-panels made of metal, and felt hat-objects form the installation in which cultural symbols and signs are both graphically and materially realized. Some twenty hand-sewn felt objects-derived from the

components of the hat and from grammatical signs, are suspended in the gallery. The hanging objects, with numerous protrusions and openings, float in space as though in the process of being remodeled. This work is the centrepiece of the installation- where disparate signs found in the other pieces are integrated into a collection of parts associated with the body. The use of craft-based technology as seen in the felt sculptures, corresponds with the artist's interest in historical modes of production and the progress of meaning in language. Huynh proposes a relationship between cultural productions and language that is mediated through the body. According to the artist's program, historical labour and the body in its various representations are ultimately inseparable.