Past Residents
Past Resident2021: Pola Art Foundation
Saya Irie
Saya Irie’s work is inspired from everyday life and its ties to the distant past. Irie modifies objects by means of reduction, working with books, photographs, banknotes, and soaps, amongst others objects. Her practice is based on the idea that life continues to exist in an imperceptible sphere even after its external form disappears.
Saya Irie has exhibited work at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art; Setouchi Triennale, Shōdoshima, Kagawa, Japan; and Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, among others.
Events & Exhibitions
2020 Fall Open Studios
November 17–November 18, 2020
Saya Irie, Kannon Dust (Kukurihime), 2016, Japanese hanging scroll and eraser shavings, figure: 7 x 4.7 x 2.4 in.; hanging scroll: 24 x 71 in.
Saya Irie, Mau Dust, 2016, charm and eraser shavings, figure: 5 x 6 x 2.4 in., charm: 20 x 28 in.
Saya Irie, Mary Dust, 2020, Kapanese hanging scroll and eraser shavings, figure: 2.4 x 1.7 x1.5 in.; hanging scroll: 16 x 9.4 x0.6 in.
Saya Irie, Disny Dust, 2015, children's book and eraser shavings, figure: 5 x 3.5 x 2.3 in., book: 7.8 x 12 in.
Saya Irie, Jyashouten Dust, 2019, Japanese hanging scroll, cardboard boxes, and eraser shavings, 90 x 70 x 12 in.
Past Resident2021: Celebrate the Studio
Tommy Kha
Tommy Kha’s work is a mapping of Asian Diaspora and possible spaces for queerness. He is interested in photographic imaging of Otherness. In his practice, he often rephotographs cutouts to create pictures that straddle between self-portrait, still life, and landscape. Kha’s work is a continuation of his mother’s photographs from 1984—a year after she fled Vietnam. His mother’s images depict gatherings, celebration, and liberation, whereas Kha’s picture making is performative and collaborative.
Tommy Kha has exhibited work at Blue Sky Gallery, Portland; International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Fashion, Hyères, France; Baxter Street at Camera Club of New York, among others.
Tommy Kha, Reunification (I), Brooklyn/Memphis, 2020, archival pigment print, 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm).
Tommy Kha, Assemblies I (Crying in Three Takes), 2020, archival pigment print on jigsaw puzzle.
Tommy Kha, Stops (I), Marsha P. Johnson Park, 2020, archival pigment print, 50 × 40 in. (127 × 101.6 cm).
Tommy Kha, Constellations (XVIII), Whitehaven, Memphis, 2019, archival pigment print, 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm).
Tommy Kha, Constellations (XXI), Ridgewood/Fort Tilden Beach, 2020, archival pigment print, 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm).
Past Resident2021: Vision Fund
Devin N. Morris
Devin N. Morris collapses memory and space to envision delicate new realms of existence. Informed by his upbringing in Baltimore and his personal experiences as a queer man of color, his work often portrays semi-fictive characters who exchange acts of kindness and care within surreal domestic settings. Extending his practice of collage into physical assemblage and sculpture, Morris creates site-specific environments that refract the domestic interior and subvert traditional values and social boundaries.
Devin N. Morris has exhibited work at Baltimore Museum of Art; Bass Museum, Miami; and P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, among others.
Devin N. Morris, Water not under the moonlight, water at moon’s eve. Saw it from behind and now the cold front is unveiled, guiltily picked and exposed, 2020, acrylic, painters tape, wall paper, plaster, wood veneer, wood moldings, house paint, oil pastel, pastel, collage, ink, door, vinyl, wool, daily vitamin, acidophilus, velvet, wood shutter, and footboard on panel, 98 × 70 in. (248.92 × 177.8 cm).
Devin N. Morris, Moving away from up there. Broken easily as brown skin does walking through brown stone. From Somewhere and Me at the base of stairs treading rows perfectly soiled for blossoming lunacy, 2020, entryway doors, chair, lampshade, and light, 129 × 95 × 27 in. (327.66 × 241.3 × 68.58 cm).
Devin N. Morris, Homeostatic, 2018, archival inkjet print, 36 × 24 in. (91.44 × 60.96 cm).
Devin N. Morris, Spot Clean with Daily Lavender Pill, 2018, acrylic, tempera, oil pastel, candle wax, inkjet print on silk, and charcoal on wood panel, 36 × 24 in. (91.44 × 60.96 cm).
Devin N. Morris, Birds Through A Window Chirp Frying Flying Chicken Grease Glittered Air, 2020, wood veneer, oil pastel, leather, cotton, acrylic, silk, charcoal, and suede on paper, 14 × 17 in. (35.56 × 43.18 cm).