RECEPTION | The Day Is A Book We Keep on Reading

"Everything we do speaks the self, and the day is a book we keep on reading." - "Art of the Ordinary," Richard Deming

Each artist in this show uses everyday objects, routine actions, and often overlooked moments to explore identity or personal histories and capture a sense of place. According to curator and exhibiting artist Christina Hunt Wood, the goal is to show how the mundane can be a powerful and authentic tool for communicating one’s lived experience through various disciplines of art.

Oneonta’s Adrianna Newell is exhibiting photos documenting their morning ritual as a Black woman. Common objects are set against a chic, Pepto-pink background, but even in this studio setting, the objects remain true to themselves—a piece of toast on a plate includes scattered crumbs, and a set of combs includes the glisten and stain of oils and pomades with strands of hair tangled into their teeth. www.adriannanewell.com

Multimedia artist and the show’s curator, Christina Hunt Wood, is based in Delhi and works within the themes of rural life and everyday expressions of power. Her video work uses the “how-to” genre to explore the way ideas from multiple influences can come together and become a dissonant cultural belief. In her assemblages, Wood uses beer can litter found on the backroads of our region to make visually attractive and conceptually unnerving works of art. www.christinahuntwood.com

Syracuse-based quilter, Ellen Blalock presents two quilts in the African American story quilt tradition. The editors of Artists in Aprons: Folk Art by American Women discuss utility quilts that were produced by women as quickly as possible to keep their families from freezing. They explain that "women's thoughts, feelings, their very lives were inextricably bound into the design just as surely as the cloth layers were bound with thread." Ellen's pieces replace quilts that were stolen from her family while also helping to pass down her family’s history—one that also tells the disproportionately high incarceration rate and racialized violence against African American men.  ellen-blalock.squarespace.com

Hudson Valley-based artist, Jacinta Bunnell uses old keys, decorated with paint and handmade yarn lanyards, as a metaphor for their childhood as a “latchkey kid” in the 80s. “Jacinta spent their days home alone crafting for hours—it kept them busy and from feeling alone. Jacinta has created joyful work that acknowledges that part of themself and is a monument to other latchkey kids whom Jacinta celebrates in her artist statement: “You are tender, tough, and unequivocally resilient. Also, I’m really proud of you. These keys are in honor of you.” www.jacintabunnell.com

Jonathan Macagba’s photos were taken during the Covid-19 shutdown after the regular practice of documenting his everyday observations around his Brooklyn neighborhood was forced indoors. Common household objects, such as a lemon or an avocado, began taking on a new meaning. A small toy figurine placed on a table beside a lemon suddenly felt like an encounter in a magical land. www.jmwork.com

In conjunction with the exhibition, there is an interactive wall where CANO visitors are provided with a prompt and invited to illustrate their responses. The wall will be photographed and included as part of the living archive at the show's conclusion. Additionally, Wood will offer a youth workshop on April 8 from 2-4 pm at CANO called “This Boring Life: Making the Ordinary Interesting,” where students will experiment with drawing, video, assemblage, and photography.

Gallery Hours: Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 12:00 to 2:00 pm (except holidays).

Photo credit: "Combs" by Adrianna Newell