Stavanger, Norway
Memory formation depends in part on the hippocampus, a small area of the brain often described as being shaped like a seahorse. I will admit that I don’t really see the resemblance, but nevertheless I like it very much, especially in the context of Unni Karoline Bakke’s Hippocampus series. How we form and recall memories in real life is often based on objects and sensations—a treasured heirloom, a familiar smell—and Bakke weaves from this tendency a series of illuminating and inventive artworks. Each of three works in the series has in common an illustration of the hippocampus, a sense of the underwater world, and a deployment of old textiles from friends, family or secondhand stores. In “Napkin” and “Paint Drop Cloth,” threads hang from new embroideries like the tentacles of jellyfish. Lace fragments float buoyantly up to the surface or sink down to the seabed. Brightly colored floss recalls the outrageous brilliance of a healthy coral reef. Even the scourge of modern seas is acknowledged, via a huge layer of clear plastic that sheathes “Threads on Cloth.” Rusted metal rods provide hanging structures, as if they had actually spent time in the ocean, amid the real seahorses which, for their size, are reputed to have good memories.
—Lori Waxman, March 16, 4:32 PM