Cynthia Reynolds | Samantha M. Connors

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Curated by Danielle Degon

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Through laborious processes of trimming, weaving, and peeling, Cynthia Reynolds and Samantha M. Connors turn single-use materials into works that ask of themselves, “What is my purpose?”, “Where do I belong once my purpose has been served?”, and “Am I bound to the space which asks to be filled?”. The sculptures included in this exhibition—created from cardboard, plastic, dryer sheets, metal ties, Styrofoam, and wool—recontextualize materials that typically occupy unfilled space and reveal their potential for subjecthood.

Cynthia Reynolds and Samantha M. Connors explore the limits and expectations of mass-produced materials intended to protect, block, and fill negative spaces. Whether through Reynolds’ delicately picked-apart cardboard sculptures or Connors’ translucent woven structures, one’s perception of the ubiquitous objects are altered. In Void Fill, overproduced objects are given a new context that allows viewers to contemplate their own existence and construction of self within a culture of overproduction.

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Cynthia Reynolds has been using packing materials in her work for over 20 years. Through intricate processes, she explores the single-use material’s functions, fragility, and status as non-object. Here she exhibits several works which have been delicately handled and stripped of their structural capacity. In doing so, she simultaneously exposes the consumed space within the materials and depletes them of their intended function.

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Samantha M. Connors’ weavings reference the purpose, process, and effects of newly constructed buildings in Philadelphia. Using various single-use materials, they create sculptures which consider how one’s perception changes alongside a changing urban landscape. In this exhibition, they utilize the grid shape to contemplate the method by which empty spaces are filled.

Void Fill will be on view at Automat Collective through October 30. A public reception will be held on Thursday, October 14 from 6 – 9 pm. The exhibition will be open to the public on Saturdays from 12 pm—4 pm through October. Masks are required for all visitors while in the gallery.