Exhibition Didactic, Bruce Johnson, Curator

Craig Le Blanc’s materials are the stuff of industry: plate glass, mirrors, industrial lights, car upholstery… things made with machines, from places traditionally associated with men. He transforms each into a ground for linguistic fragments and adages; phrases that run the spectrum of human articulation, from confession to lament to prayer. At times they are boldly stated, at others, barely whispered.

Le Blanc is investigating the mystery of his own identity, delving into his past and tracking his steps as he continues through the world. Beginning with an unflinching, even vulnerable interrogation of the personal, this work opens outward to explore questions common to us all. How are we shaped by desire and loss? Is personal control an illusion? What part of us is built from social expectations and shared anxieties? These are valuable ruminations at a time when the social sphere is saturated with unending Facebook updates, reality-show confessionals and an endless barrage of online selfies.

The artist’s sculptures, text works and installations bear a presence that is neither trivial nor deposable. His etched glass plates, cut steel shields and machine-stitched emblems ply human words with the language of the material itself, offering objects transformed by the marriage.

All Images Courtesy of Elizabeth Kowal