SEQUOIA SCAVULLO

SEQUOIA SCAVULLO
THE TASTE OF YOUR FIREPLACE
The Kunstverein Bielefeld is pleased to present the first institutional solo exhibition of Sequoia Scavullo in Europe. The artist creates in varying formats figurative paintings, that are on the edge of abstraction. Elements of fantastic creatures, body parts or flying insects blur in a superimposition of layers representing textures such as water, hair or transparent fabric.

Central to her work is a reflection on non-verbal communication. The creation of an imaginary alphabet, which one encounters often in her painting, makes this literally the theme. The hieroglyphic-like letters convey real messages. In this way, the artist creates a new state of language while reminding us that painting, as an artistic language, has the ability to convey emotions that are sometimes more complex than words could express. Likewise, she uses color to convey emotional states and references the synesthetic realms of experience in art, especially painting.

Scavullo's compositions repeatedly refer to dreams and her personal history. Coming from a Taino family, she has been inspired by their technique of dream analysis - dream and waking states are not distinguished among the Tainos - and their holistic approach to the world. This approach considers the constitution of the human being as a whole, not detaching the mind from the body as is often the case in Western medicine, in order to heal it. It is therefore no coincidence that water is a recurring theme in her work. This material represents as such the flow between reality and dream, between life and death, between past and present and also between the non-human and human worlds.
Curated by Oriane Durand

Sequoia Scavullo (b. 1995 in Baltimore, lives and works in Paris) graduated this year from the Beaux Arts of Paris. She had a solo exhibition at Pigment Sauvage Gallery in Baltimore (2019). Her work has been included in group shows at Palais des Beaux Arts, Paris; Exo Exo, Paris (both 2022); Galerie Joseph, Paris (2021); Haimney Gallery, Barcelona (2020); Dorchester Art Gallery, Boston (2019) among others.