"the ringing in your ear
a cosmic chuckle
persistent whispers of unknown origin
downloading during sleep becomes buried by noise
disappearing in daylight
going far out and coming back
smiling at a flower
confused lovers
live mutations
believing a cloaked existence
and what can you do
sharing the earth
for better or worse"
Back in Our Minds, a solo presentation by Ben Quinn, utilizes a multimedia approach to elaborate on an ongoing psych driven narrative. Relationships between painting, sculpture, installation and sound point to one another as fragmented references to the whole, while forms of repetition in static works allude to varying levels of change. Found objects and images are combined and manipulated by hand to read with an alternative message. The title Back in Our Minds is borrowed from Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain album with an intended dual meaning for viewership. 'Back in our minds', as in leaving our minds and returning, and the itching psychic intuition that tells us instinctively when something is suspicious. Both examples are used personally and collectively as a lens to view the exhibition. With this, the nail and the blade of grass are not unalike.
Ben Quinn (b.1991 Dayton, OH) is an artist living and working in Los Angeles, CA. He received a BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design and MFA from California College of the Arts. Quinn’s work deals mostly with post-psychedelic reflection and sensitivities to the supernatural through painting, sometimes accompanied by image and sound.
Back in Our Minds is open at Oakland's pt. 2 Gallery through November 1, 2019.