new.now.

Hamiltonian Alumni Group Show – Kyrae Dawaun, Cecilia Kim, Ara Koh, Samera Paz, and Matthew Russo

Saturday, December 18, 2021– Saturday, January 29, 2022
Tuesday through Saturday 11 am – 6 pm

Hamiltonian Artists is pleased to present new.now., our annual group exhibition debuting the work of Hamiltonian’s five distinguished 2021–2023 fellows—Kyrae Dawaun, Cecilia Kim, Ara Koh, Samera Paz, and Matthew Russo. The exhibition will be on view from December 18, 2021 to January 29, 2022. There will be an Artist Talk on January 19 at 6 pm and a closing reception on January 29 at 4pm.

This exhibition provides a snapshot of these five artists’ creative practices and works they will be expanding upon during their time with Hamiltonian Artists over the next two years. Materiality is at the core of much of the work and interpretation of form is manipulated through the artist’s personal experiences.

Kyrae Dawaun will present a selection of work across mediums. Tethered by language, Dawaun’s theatrical works depict archetypal characters and criticize rhetorical tropes. Cecilia Kim explores the liminal space of interwoven memory and overlapping familial relationships. Her poetic works study spoken text and warped environments through installation and video. Ara Koh will show works that highlight her unique relationship with clay. While Koh’s vessels and sculptures reference memory, the gestural landscapes and intricate surfaces in her paintings with clay are an exploration of texture and metamorphosis. Samera Paz explores the contemporary dilemmas of womanhood through photography and performance. Paz uses her body as a medium to explore femininity, sexuality, gender roles, and intimacy to face her own traumas and experiences. Having humor, presence, and a group dynamic, Matthew Russos’ energetic sculptures and abstract paintings challenge our understanding of material objects. Russos’ work discusses the purpose of the form through our environmental influences and experiential reality.

The 2021–2023 Fellows were selected by an independent national jury of arts professionals—Wassan Al-Khudhairi, chief curator at the Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; Tim Doud, artist, curator and professor in the Department of Art at American University, Washington, DC; Isabel Manalo, visual artist, educator and curator-at-large, Washington, DC; Jonathan Monaghan, visual artist, associate professor and chair of the Art Department at Catholic University, Washington, DC; and Terence Washington, arts educator, administrator, and project director for Readying the Museum, Washington, DC.