geometric frustrations / Volumes

Marina Kassianidou: geometric frustrations

east window SOUTH

4949 Broadway, Unit 102-C, Boulder, CO 80304

August 25-October 28, 2022

Admission: free

Marina Kassianidou and Maia Ruth Lee: Volumes

Lane Meyer Projects

2528 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205

August 19-September 25, 2022

Admission: free

Review by Danielle Cunningham

The relationship between presence and trace dominates in two exhibitions by Boulder- and Limassol, Cyprus-based artist Marina Kassianidou. Trained in art and computer science, Kassianidou focuses on mark-making and surface and the ways in which drawing is a responsive combination of both. She also emphasizes the role of multistep, transformational processes by displaying each step of creation as artworks in their own right. [1]

An installation view of Marina Kassianidou’s exhibition geometric frustrations at east window SOUTH in Boulder. Image courtesy of east window.

In geometric frustrations at east window SOUTH, Kassianidou illustrates the process of evolving trash into glorified art objects. Beginning with log-log graph paper she retrieved from the trash and which the U.S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey Water Resources Division printed, she crushes the paper until creases form. Typically a precursor to disposal, the act of crumpling here instead becomes an agent of elevation, preparing the simple page for its subsequent life stage as art and solidifying its relationship to the artist.

Marina Kassianidou, Wrinklegram, 2022, black archival pigment ink on found log-log graph paper, 10.5 x 15.94 inches. Image courtesy of east window.

Next, Kassianidou intentionally traces the serendipitous wrinkles in each page while preserving the distinctions in form created through crumpling. By maintaining these changes, the works, titled Wrinklegrams, begin to resemble the folds in the Earth’s crust created by shifts in tectonic plates—an observation the artist makes and which points to her interest in the relationship between humans and nature. [2] With the act of tracing, Kassianidou unveils multiple definitions of “trace” in this work, though it is the notion of trace as it relates to human remnants left in nature that feels the most relevant to the world today.

In the foreground: Marina Kassianidou’s Wrinklegram VII, 2022, black archival pigment ink on found log-log graph paper, 10.5 x 15.94 inches; in the background, one work in Kassianidou’s Mapping series. Image by Danielle Cunningham.

The artist’s method of transferring automatically formed lines onto new surfaces suggests an obvious curiosity about this relationship. Like Surrealist art which unconsciously connected the artist’s hand to unbridled imagination, Kassianidou similarly connects chance to deliberate action. Kassianidou brings together these seemingly disparate states of being just as she tethers the right-brained activity of tracing with the left-brained construction of geological survey maps, suggesting that art exists outside any binary.

Kassianidou’s final step is to transfer the traced and distorted graph paper to rectangular copper plates, at which point they become etchings whose shining, polished surfaces evoke wealth and luxury. Titled Mappings and mounted above the sight line of the graph paper, they are elevated both figuratively and literally, securing their role as the pinnacle objects in the exhibition.

Marina Kassianidou, Mapping, 2022, copper drawings (drypoint), 10.5 x 15.94 inches. Image courtesy of east window.

Copper is a natural aesthetic choice for these objects as it contrasts with the dull, flat surface of the graph paper, further alluding to their position at the top of the exhibition’s hierarchy of objects. The artist’s decision to present these final marks on copper is also relevant to her involvement with the idea of the trace in that copper is both a trace element in the human body and important to the establishment of human civilization. [3]

An installation view of Marina Kassianidou and Maia Ruth Lee’s exhibition Volumes at Lane Meyer Projects in Denver. On the right, Kassianidou’s A Partial History III, 2022, graphite on 300gsm rough press watercolor paper and red oak, approximately 45 x 58 x 11.5 inches. Image courtesy of Lane Meyer Projects.

The artist’s love of mark-making is apparent in her two-person exhibition Volumes at Lane Meyer Projects with Maia Ruth Lee, It is also a testament to her interest in process and transformation. Using family heirlooms, books passed down from her great-grandmother, the artist created the series titled A Partial History. It includes prints of book covers and pages, and large, wall-mounted sheets of paper. With her family’s books as a starting point, she traced their tattered, sometimes worm-eaten pages to capture their surfaces, sometimes also capturing lingering evidence of her ancestors’ presence.

Marina Kassianidou, A Partial History IV, 2022, graphite on 300gsm rough press watercolor paper and red oak, approximately 33 x 56 x 7.5 inches. Image courtesy of Lane Meyer Projects.

Similar to her Wrinklegrams, Kassianidou again captures memory by copying her traces onto large pieces of paper. These are made to appear significant in their scale and their resemblance to scrolls—details that perhaps describe the artist’s relationship to the original heirlooms. The books themselves, likely too fragile to display, are documented as inkjet prints, including some of their covers and a few excerpted pages lovingly framed.

Marina Kassianidou, A Partial History (Book III), 2019, archival inkjet prints on luster paper (edition of 10 + 2 AP), left: 13 x 10.6 x 1.5 inches framed; right: 8.6 x 10.6 x 1.5 inches framed. Image courtesy of Lane Meyer Projects.

To display a copy of Kassianidou’s family's books is to effectively display a trace. Though not made by her hand but a machine, these traces bear less of a haunting weight than a handmade copy would, with the physical connection to the artist’s family severed through electricity. And yet, Kassianidou fosters a new connection, possibly catalyzing a more accurate documentation of her precious objects than even the most skilled hand could.

A detail view of Kassianidou’s A Partial History IV, 2022, graphite on 300gsm rough press watercolor paper and red oak, approximately 33 x 56 x 7.5 inches. Image courtesy of Lane Meyer Projects.

In addition, she augments the sentimentality of the process by tracing the books as well as preserving them in prints, emphasizing their significance by enlarging her marks onto sheets of thick, sturdy paper that dominate the gallery wall. These books clearly matter to her and their significance is indicated by her display choice and the size of the accompanying drawings.

Marina Kassianidou’s process is inextricable from her interest in mark-making and surface. By working with notions of trace that are both emotional and documentary, the artist establishes herself as someone who is open to inspiration from myriad directions. Her work is rich in concept though she doesn’t sacrifice aesthetics, presenting work that is as visually haunting as it is intellectual. 

Danielle Cunningham is an artist, scholar, and independent curator. She writes about science fiction, gender, sexuality, and disability, with an emphasis on mental illness. The co-founder of chant cooperative, an artist co-op, she holds a master’s degree in Art History and Museum Studies from the University of Denver.

[1] From the artist’s website: www.marinakassianidou.com/bio.

[2] From the artist’s statement in the gallery.

[3] Britannica Online: www.britannica.com/science/copper.