Akephalos

Uprise Art is pleased to present Akephalos, an exhibition of new work by Carmen McNall and Dana Bell.

Using a unique process that combines painting and wood-carving, McNall incorporates textures and patterns significant within the history of traditional craft-making. Her work balances patterns, organic shapes, and stretches of pure pigment, suspending the depicted objects in saturated space, and accentuating the grooves of the carved wood. These works tell fragments of intimate stories and moments in time, referencing perseverance, strength and personal power in times of struggle. McNall’s practice relates directly to the handmade in both subject matter and execution, opening a dialogue on the relationship between people, their environments, and what inherently fastens us to our surroundings - examining the empowering qualities these places retain.

In 'Akephalos', Bell and McNall explore figurative anonymity, probing enduring archetypes, enigmatic environments, and open-ended narratives.

Working across a range of media including acrylic on canvas and plexiglass, Bell abstracts the human form into scenes that are at once ambiguous and charged. Her compositions are often drawn from vernacular photographs of people or groups of people, reducing figures and gestures to simplified forms. Focusing on moments of mood, interaction, expression, Bell’s work depicts body language as a means of communicating systems such as power and control. Like McNall, who imbues her figures with anonymity by cropping her compositions at the shoulders, Bell’s compositions avoid the inclusion of facial features. The backgrounds are also intentionally blank, allowing color to evoke a sense of mood or time of day. Inspired by single-panel cartoons which often require captions to elucidate their meaning, Bell creates an opportunity for the viewer to infer multiple narratives.

In Akephalos, Bell and McNall explore figurative anonymity, probing enduring archetypes, enigmatic environments, and open-ended narratives.

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