Topping
Thomas Hunter Project Space
930 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY
August 4 – 31
Opening Reception: August 4, 6-8pm
Sarah Mihara Creagen and Jason Rondinelli are proud to present Topping, an exhibition that draws upon the lifecycle of plants as a means to explore queer sexuality. The term topping in queer culture is most commonly associated with dominant sexual roles, but in the realm of horticulture topping is as an aggressive form of pruning. The drawings and sculptures in this exhibition inhabit a precarious juncture, where BDSM and sexual health practices are presented through a humorous botanical lens.
Sarah Mihara Creagen has created narrative drawings that take inspiration from personal experiences, botanical illustrations, and gardening manuals. Sarah is interested in methods of close looking found in botanical sciences and how it relates to sexual health exams. She uses specific horticultural terms as a jumping off point for narratives that ricochet between sex, humor, and anxiety.
Jason Rondinelli’s sculptures operate in the lineage of homoeroticism’s relation to floral imagery and take a particular look at the messier side of it. Here he presents abstract forms whose concave surfaces are inspired by the act of grinding flowers with a mortar and pestle. The heads of roses, and other foliage are macerated into the absorbent wooden surfaces staining the exterior over time. This action produces a plethora of associations related to sex, power, or marking the body with perfume and love potions. The bone-like sculptures accumulate a history of aggressive floral offerings that expose the vulnerability of the form.
