At Futures
Devan Shimoyama
The Grove
mixed media
Jen says "Oh my"
"Within the exhibition’s Futures that Unite hall, Devan Shimoyama (b. 1989, Philadelphia) will create a moment of reflection in response to the tumult and tragedy brought on by racial violence and the COVID-19 pandemic. His shimmering, soaring “The Grove,” will be an imagined future monument to the year 2020, inviting visitors to enter a meditative forest-like space, take a moment to forgive, breathe, pause and heal. Using “DIY” utility poles, dangling shoes and silk flowers, “The Grove” references community traditions of spontaneous memorials and will be adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals to offer a sense of light, magic and the divine in witness to lives lost.
Shimoyama’s mixed-media practice frequently imbues a sense of community, solidarity, commemoration and identity at the intersection of Blackness and queerness. “The Grove” will represent both a singular, internal mourning for collective trauma and the healing power of empathy and hope."
At Futures
Devan Shimoyama
The Grove
mixed media
Jen says "Oh my"
"Within the exhibition’s Futures that Unite hall, Devan Shimoyama (b. 1989, Philadelphia) will create a moment of reflection in response to the tumult and tragedy brought on by racial violence and the COVID-19 pandemic. His shimmering, soaring “The Grove,” will be an imagined future monument to the year 2020, inviting visitors to enter a meditative forest-like space, take a moment to forgive, breathe, pause and heal. Using “DIY” utility poles, dangling shoes and silk flowers, “The Grove” references community traditions of spontaneous memorials and will be adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals to offer a sense of light, magic and the divine in witness to lives lost.
Shimoyama’s mixed-media practice frequently imbues a sense of community, solidarity, commemoration and identity at the intersection of Blackness and queerness. “The Grove” will represent both a singular, internal mourning for collective trauma and the healing power of empathy and hope."