Alyson Shotz, The Silent Constellations

Stockholm, 12.1–18.2  2023

GSA Gallery is proud to inaugurate the new year with the solo exhibition The Silent Constellations by the American sculptor Alyson Shotz. In Shotz’s fourth exhibition with the gallery she continues to examine the intersection of art and science by exploring concepts of light, space and time.

Alyson Shotz’s vivid interest in science and cosmology and her studies in geology are apparent in her work as she seeks to understand the forces of nature. The work involves an experimentation with phenomenological experiences where Shotz occasionally let chance and accident inform the process. The Silent Constellations draws specifically on the orbits of moons around planets. As a recurring play with spatial distortions, the sculptures engage space as a medium which is made possible by Shotz’s minimal use of material where space alone make up most of the shape.

‘Space is incredibly mysterious… it seems like nothing yet it is the weightiest substance in the universe. The stuff that you, me, our planet and the stars are made of makes only 5% of the universe. The remaining 95% is dark matter and dark energy.

Through sculpture, I engage in an artistic investigation into the physics of space, light and matter, the building blocks of our physical world. I consider these to be my primary materials in addition to the more traditional notions of mass, volume and line. My work really began with a question about space. What is it, what is it made of? How does it shape everything we see around us. What is the structure and substance of space?’ -Alyson Shotz

The colors of the materials refer to minerals and asteroids; the aluminum coming from exploding massive stars and the stainless steel from exploding massive stars, exploding white dwarfs as well as dying low mass stars. Investigating the relationship between rotation and time, the paint changes with the natural light and the viewer’s angle.

The concept of light in its many forms is further explored in the wall pieces Alloys of Moonlight as they transform with the light recalling the way the sky changes colors at varying times of day.

ALYSON SHOTZ (b. 1964) is based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has been featured in several solo exhibitions. Shotz has won many awards and was an Arts Institute Research Fellow at Stanford University 2014-2015. She received her MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Her work is represented in prominent collections such as The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Storm King Art Center, The Phillips Collection, and The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, to name a few.

Works in the exhibition: