Vessels are Never Empty at the Franc Gallery Exhibition Review
The works of Dina González Mascaró speaks of silence, grief and transformation. Upon entering the Franc Gallery, black monochrome vessels and charcoal drawings surrounds the art gallery. Each of the works were labelled and numbered in chronological order, all the way from 1 to 14. The works featured are porcelain vessels, wooden constructions holding vessels, and various charcoal drawings / illustrations in of vessels and concepts. Very much constructivist.
Contrary to the exhibition title, the vessels are empty. Anamorphic in shape all the vessels are very visceral and speaks of human organs or cocoons dealing with subjects of life and death. In constructivist manner, all the vessels but one are painted black with acrylic paint instead of being glazed over, speaking very much about it’s process. All of the vessels are supported by its surrounding constructions made of wood and treated in the same black acrylic. I cannot talk about the vessels without speaking about its wooden supports.
All of the works featured in the gallery have titles relating to the body and loss. Such as works like Torso, Gone, Heart, Rested, and Wooden Vessel. Without the juxtaposition of each title in the works, it would not evoke sensations of loss and mourning. Perhaps the exhibition title is a refusal of the fact that the vessels are lost, or empty. The concept of the empty vessel — of nothing, is a key concept throughout this body of work.
The vessels, speaking of their construction, are very thin and sometimes cracked, evoking non-functionality and fragile nature. Some of the vessels stand on plinths with the wooden structures surrounding the plinth, and some are placed on top of wooden constructions. But all the vessels are supported by the black wooden structural forms either way. Some pieces are even propped up against a wooden form that seems to be holding the vessel up. The juxtaposition between the anamorphic forms and precariously constructed, block-like wooden construction, and their function of supporting speaks of the fragility of the vessels. Almost as if they are in life-support. The vessels and the wooden constructs are very much one.
I see the charcoal drawings as accompanying support for these vessel works. The drawings are of constructivist aesthetic. Very much pictorial on the verge of abstraction. These drawings and their titles evoke a type of thinking that goes along the works situated on the gallery floor. In the same monochromatic nature, and titles similar to the works evokes a visceral sensation that induces memories of loss, mourning, and grief.
In the introduction of the body of work, Dina González Mascaró relates the vessels to cocoons, and/ or lungs. Which is very much so, as each piece the both resemble bodily organs and cocoons simultaneously. Although still empty, the openings suggest remnants of a cocoon and aortic valves in the body. The open cocoon suggests a change that has already been gone through. At the same time the openings of each piece, sometimes incisions into the vessel very much links these works to the body. There is a dialectic between change, life, and support between the duality of the two paradigms.
After reviewing this exhibition, and the accompanying vessels, sculptures, and drawings. The artist, Dina González Mascaró illustrates a silent, but emotional body of work in the exhibition that suggests the process of life and grief. As a response to the passing of the artists parents. The exhibit not so much provides examples of death but of passing. The dialectic between both change and the visceral is very strong in this body of work in the Franc Gallery. Vessels are Never Empty is showing from March 9th to April 6th 2019 at the Franc Gallery located in Vancouver, BC.
