A Show to See Before It Ends: Dosshaus Presents “Paper-Thin Hotel” at the Corey Helford Gallery

After running some errands in downtown LA, I stopped by the Corey Helford Gallery to see the Dosshaus “Paper Thin Hotel” show.

I found myself walking through a hotel made out of hand painted cardboard. Every room is filled with an incredible amount of detail, hinting at the type of guest staying there. If you keep your eyes open you might spot a gun, or drugs, fancy little slippers, a phonograph, a box of chocolates, matches, cat food, and a multitude of other objects revealing stories. Walking through the hotel lobby, guest rooms, hallway and bar felt like walking within a series of drawings. A funny mix of fantasy and reality settles in as all the objects are so familiar yet, completely fictional. The walls separating the rooms are paper thin, giving the exhibit it’s title.

Zoey Taylor and David Connelly (members of Dosshaus), are part of the exhibit — literally. Zoey was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed in room 101, writing in a journal. Behind her, a suitcase full of cash. David was lying face down by a film camera in room 105. Not far from him, a desk with RX pill bottles and several alarm clocks.

The detail and the innumerable amount of items in the hotel was humorous. Entire personalities were whipped up from common “stuff”. Every item relatable to anyone yet, the combination of said items set characters apart. We categorize each other and identify through the things we display. We surround ourselves with stuff, in a constant attempt to voice our identities. Whether what we come up with is real or fictional remains ambiguous.

If you haven’t seen the “Paper Thin Hotel” yet, it’s definitely worth a stroll before the show ends.

The Dosshaus show at the Corey Helford Gallery ends on May 5th.

Heather Cook exhibit at the Praz-Delavallade Gallery

1D 5L 2D 6L 3D 7L 4D 8L 5D 1L 6D 2L 7D 3L 8D 4L

The beauty about Los Angeles is that the minute you look at the city’s calendar, there is definitely something going on. This Saturday I attended the opening of Heather Cook’s exhibit, “1D 5L 2D 6L 3D 7L 4D 8L 5D 1L 6D 2L 7D 3L 8D 4L” at the Praz-Delavallade gallery.

Heather Cook’s “1D 5L 2D 6L 3D 7L 4D 8L 5D 1L 6D 2L 7D 3L 8D 4L” exhibit at the Praz-Delavallade Gallery

Heather Cook received her MFA at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena which, made the exhibit particularly interesting to me.

Shadow Weave, Heather Cook

Two series of woven work was presented throughout three rooms. You are first presented with Cook’s Shadow Weaves and then lead to see the Weaving Drafts. The compositions are made out of yarn. The yarn is painted with acrylic before being woven together, creating a picture in which the image lives within the canvas as opposed to on the surface.

Shadow Weaves, Heather Cook

While standing in front of one of the huge woven creations and letting myself drown in the complex graphic imagery created by the weave, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own line of work.

There is a certain presence of chance in all finished work. The process of planning followed by building will be inevitably altered by interference. This sort of distortion that happens in the creation of every project is why shaping an idea into form is addicting and forever drives a creative mind to design.

Shadow Weave Draft Graph

If you have a free afternoon, stop by the Praz-Delavallade
The Heather Cook exhibit will be displayed until June 16th.