Artist: Nikki Woolsey
Exhibition title: Daily Luge
Venue: COOPER COLE, Toronto, Canada
Date: May 26 – July 14, 2017
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and COOPER COLE, Toronto
COOPER COLE is pleased to present Daily Luge, a solo exhibition from Nikki Woolsey.
Nikki Woolsey‘s work considers a place in-between, her objects want to be near hands, captured in space like drunk diamonds dragged through the mud; they talk and talk to each other within the material of the things she makes meet. She spans time, honouring found objects with deft and deliberately meditative devices. They find new ways in the world and are often replicated through the framework of prop making, though mimicking the original with an absurd questioning of itself. They cry the constant whisper of the size of something worth holding, all while following false instructions of gravity and grace.
The found objects don’t escape the domestic surplus they are born out of and refuse opulence as a standard worth achieving. Instead she presents a shiny flare among evidence of an edged normal, a cozy home-time macabre, a long crooked finger looking for the light (switch.)
– Laura McCoy
This exhibition is generously supported by the Toronto Arts Council.
Nikki Woolsey (b. 1983, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) graduated from OCAD University in 2008. Her sculptures consider the perceived significance and categorization of objects. Unravelling these understandings, her materials are put through a process of intuitive reconfiguration and deliberate fabrication. Woolsey has been included in exhibitions at the Power Plant (More Than Two), Mercer Union (Push and Pull), and Pari Nadimi Gallery (Baleful), Toronto, Canada. As a frequent contributor to the touring art event Doored, Woolsey has shown sculpture in Los Angeles, New York City, and Rotterdam. In 2010, she collaborated with art duo Life of a Craphead at a residency and exhibition at Hotel Maria Kapel in Hoorn, Netherlands. Woolsey lives and works in Toronto, Canada
Nikki Woolsey, Daily Luge, 2017, installation view, COOPER COLE
Nikki Woolsey, Snug Ripple Dawn, 2017, Glass, flock, foam, weather stripping bristles, 11.5″ X 7.25″ X 3.5″, 29.21cm X 18.41cm X 8.89cm
Nikki Woolsey, Window Nud, 2017, Rice, resin, metal, straw, spray paint, 7.7″ X 5.6″ X 0.7″, 19.56cm X 14.22cm X 1.78cm
Nikki Woolsey, Daily Luge, 2017, installation view, COOPER COLE
Nikki Woolsey, Daily Luge, 2017, installation view, COOPER COLE
Nikki Woolsey, Daily Luge, 2017, installation view, COOPER COLE
Nikki Woolsey, Buff Patty, 2017, Wood, fabric, thread, tacks, 21.9″ X 2.4″ X 2.4″, 55.63cm X 6.1cm X 6.1cm
Nikki Woolsey, Shrug Hut, 2017, Glass, wood, straw, paint, 12.7″ X 9″ X 8.5″, 32.26cm X 22.86cm X 21.59cm
Nikki Woolsey, Soothing Lug, 2017, Smooth-On resin samples, resin, grass, glass, nail, cloth, 3.75″ X 2.3″ X 2.8″, 9.52cm X 5.84cm X 7.11cm
Nikki Woolsey, Gressive, 2017, Glass, embroidered elastic, greasy shammy, 10.8″ X 11.5″ X 6.4″, 27.43cm X 29.21cm X 16.26cm
Nikki Woolsey, Daily Luge, 2017, installation view, COOPER COLE
Nikki Woolsey, What About All About Me, 2017, Glass, paper tag, 6 ” X 4.8″ X 2.25″, 15.24cm X 12.19cm X 5.71cm
Nikki Woolsey, Daily Luge, 2017, installation view, COOPER COLE
Nikki Woolsey, Dull Supping, 2017, Board, suede, paper, resin, glass, straw, 16.3″ X 12.1″ X 0.6″, 41.4cm X 30.73cm X 1.52cm
Nikki Woolsey, Ravelling Grip, 2017, Glass, resin, plastic, 9.1 ” X 5.7″ X 2.6″, 23.11cm X 14.48cm X 6.6cm
Nikki Woolsey, Daily Luge, 2017, installation view, COOPER COLE