Last week I gave highlights from the opening of my solo exhibition You Are Here at Nancy Hoffman Gallery, and now I want to share some artworks from the show.  It is beautiful to see the art I worked so hard on for the last several years acknowledged by the top art publication Artnet on their "Must See Gallery Show" List in NYC. (It was also exciting to see it listed alongside a show by one of my artistic heroes, Jenny Holzer.)

 The image Artnet selected is a photograph from my time-based media work, A Female Gaze Into History, that is a video projection onto a tree ring. 

Below is an image of the artwork in the gallery, but the full experience is to see it in motion, in person, so you can get the full gestalt.

In the You Are Here exhibition, my sculpture We Are Here, is my way of processing all the violence these last several years that has felt so close to home. First with the war in Ukraine, the country my grandfather fled a century ago when most of his family was murdered for being Jewish. Then the horror of Oct 7th, and the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas, where many innocent Israelis and Gazans have been killed. Then this recent the murder of six hostages. Please let the remaining hostages be released. Please let all the wars stop. Please let us evolve into an alternative way to solve conflicts. 

For my tree ring sculptures, I spend a lot of time visiting different salvaged lumber yards around the Bay Area looking at fallen trees. When I first saw this log (below), I knew this was the canvas where I could channel all of these feelings. This tree, this silent witness to humanity, whose sap looked to me like it was drenched in blood.  

Figuring out where to sand it, how to make openings for peace on the surface, was an intense process. I kept burning the words WAR and PEACE into the wood to make the words darker and darker, asking through the words, Can we get out of this cycle or is it just our human nature?

I really need to believe we can resolve conflict in some other way. I know deep in my soul that if there were many more women leaders, who make life in our bodies, killing life would not be the answer.  

Love is just as powerful a force as hate, and hopefully we can make that emotion the stronger one. I burned the words PEACE on that tree ring as much as WAR. We have to push for that word, that idea, for a world that can live in PEACE, where people don’t kill or hate others for their culture, religion, or history. Where we can all coexist.

I’m trying to imagine that world. It’s getting harder. And yet, what’s the alternative?

In this desire for a more peaceful, healthy, just society, please join me on Saturday, September 21 in New York City to kick off Climate Week for A Mobilization for Women’s Rights and the Planet. 

The day will start at 10am, when my sculpture Dendrofemonology: A Feminist History Tree Ring is on view in Madison Square Park. There will be a short program with inspiring speakers including cast members from the Tony-Award winning musical SUFFS, about the struggle of women getting the right to vote. Everyone is invited to wear white to this event. We will then all walk for women’s rights, for peace, and for the planet, to the High Line. Then to the Nancy Hoffman Gallery where I will share a new short film about the ideas behind Dendrofemonology and give an artist talk. Afterwards, attendees are invited to have lunch on Pier 57 and attend workshops by some of our amazing partners. Our partners include Women Connect4Good, Project Dandelion, Vital Voices, Vote Run Lead, WECAN, Vote for Your Daughter, Gender Fair, NY Equal Rights, Take the Lead, ERA Coalition, Daughters for Earth, Level Forward, NOW, and Alice Paul Institute. All details and RSVP here.

NY Jewish Week just did an article about the upcoming event on 9-21 and the exhibition and gave it my favorite headline ever: "Witches, abortions, suffragists: Jewish artist Tiffany Shlain’s new work is a slice of women’s history."

Below are a couple more images from the exhibition, a photograph and miniature sculpture of Nothing and Everything.

This is the first time I have had my miniature sculptures installed next to the larger scale works. The exhibition is so much about how a change in scale in time and space changes your perspective, so I love the way this reinforces this idea.

Below is one of my light boxes, Over a Million Earths Can Fit Into the Sun, with a miniature to its left. These light boxes feel like cinematic portals to me...

These are five of the twenty artworks in the show that include large-scale tree ring sculptures, miniatures, light boxes, photography, and time-based media. I can't wait to share them all with you, The exhibition is up until Oct 19, and I will be back in NYC to give an artist talk in person on September 21 at 11:30am.

Those of you in LA, save the date for Ken's and my Getty PST Skirball exhibition opening on Oct 17th. More details coming soon.  I have artist talks in the Bay Area about all of this new work that you can find here. Yes, it's a busy fall for me. Trying to stay present.

Looking forward to sharing the work in person with you because this digital screen has nothing on experiencing it in three dimensions. As with everything, nothing replaces being in person. 

Love,
Tiffany

ps. I made these small tree rings to hand out to guests at the gallery opening...

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