Antonia Hirsch
Negative Space

Negative Space is a solo exhibition comprised of six aesthetically cohesive and visually powerful works by Berlin-based Canadian artist Antonia Hirsch. Originally shown at SFU Galleries in Vancouver, the works — including a five-hour durational performance and a text work for a mobile device — share a deep connection to the silence and mystery of both our inner and outer worlds. Throughout the exhibition, Hirsch finds numerous ways to question the human relationship to illusion, surface, and image. Functioning as a unit, two geometric sculptures, one spherically framed archival inkjet print, and one elongated HD video installation, appear as formal rearrangements of physical darkness. With their mostly black geometry, repeated astronomical motifs, and strategic use of light, each piece appears undeniably connected to the others and inexplicably capable of rendering space physical. Negative Space is dark and quiet. Like outer space, the works seem to absorb sound and emit energy, as though they might actually be capable of converting one into the other.