Tyna Ontko
The Shape of Evidence
Tyna Ontko scavenges natural and industrial materials and recomposes them alongside yellow cedar carvings that resemble objects of utility: a mortar and pestle, a quern-stone, a sundial… each chosen and arranged with intention to evoke movement or collective action.
- September 1 - 29, 2022
- Opening: Thursday, September 1, 6:00 — 8:00pm
The document is a monument. It is the result of the effort made by historical societies to impose, voluntarily or involuntarily, a certain image of themselves into the future. – Sophie Berrebi. ‘The Shape of Evidence’, 2004.
Origin stories written about everyday occurrences have a way of turning into epic sagas, e.g., the relationship between traditional stargazing practices and the development of increasingly powerful telescopes. Mining the microhistories of objects and materials allows Ontko to investigate the architecture of what is yet to come and to set a stage on which meaning is made, where stories are spun, where monuments take form.
The Shape of Evidence conveys her openness to the idea that we are beings defined by our position within a network of others and that the world is equivalent to the information we hold. The moment we change the principles on which our knowledge is based, our perceived reality shifts.
During an artist residency with La Wayaka Current in the Coyo Community of the Atacama Desert, Ontko produced a small collection of photographs and writings which served as impetus for The Shape of Evidence. The sculptures on display in this exhibition are inspired by memories of tools used by the Coyo to view the stars, wayfind in the dark, and grind substances down for medicinal and culinary purposes. Free from an obligation to labor, they are ripe with queer curiosity and imaginative potential.
This exhibition has been generously supported by a 4Culture Arts Project Grant.