Pilele Projects
3307A West Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90018
Join GYOPO and Pilele Projects for a special walkthrough of a collaborative two-person exhibition by Sid M. Duenas and Isa Gagarin titled Talåyan Langhet. Translated literally to "sky net" in English, Talåyan Langhet evokes an image of a CHamoru talayeru throwing a circular fishing net in shallow ocean waters. Duenas and Gagarin’s work employs the idea of a fishing net as a conceptual framework for their collaboration, which draws connections between their distinct visual and material approaches; it also functions as a metaphor for the fragmented nature of their respective CHamoru-language fluency. In his multi-media work, Duenas builds poetic textual elements including bilingual phrasing and compound words. Gagarin’s recent work plays with the ochosyllabic structure of Kantan Chamorrita, composing original songs that accompany her paintings as a way to pursue CHamoru-language thought frameworks in her creative process.
Accompanying Duenas and Gagarin’s exhibition is an open-edition poster produced by Pilele Projects.
Born in Saipan, and currently based in Los Angeles, Sid M. Duenas’ artistic practice is expressed through multiple mediums, including poetry. His work engages reading, writing as well as non-text processes as a practice of attentiveness. Attention to, and study of the alteration and metamorphosis of events and things that can only be known through synthesis, act as an expanded notion of Songi (burn) and a foundation of his work.
Isa Gagarin is a visual artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She works in painting and drawing, often venturing in other disciplines including site-specific installation, video and performance. Gagarin’s work illuminates her experience of navigating a diasporic relationship to her birth island, Guam, where her family history is rooted. Dynamic elements of the ocean and sky, such as tides and lunar cycles, are present in Gagarin’s textured paintings. Juxtaposed with specific sites, events and personal narratives, her work conveys a nuanced sense of loss and belonging. After she began studying Chamoru, her maternal heritage language which is indigenous to Guam and the Mariana islands, Gagarin began incorporating language into her work through poetry, storytelling and song. Throughout her career, Gagarin has participated in the lively community of artist-run spaces in Minneapolis. Her work has been presented throughout the US including Pilele Projects (Los Angeles, CA), Midway Contemporary Art (Minneapolis, MN), the Minnesota Museum of American Art (St. Paul, MN), Rochester Art Center (Rochester, MN), the Contemporary Arts Center (Cincinnati, OH), the Kemper Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO), and Page Bond Gallery (Richmond, VA). Gagarin received her MFA in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University and earned a BFA in Painting from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is a Lecturer in the Art Department at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Pilele Projects is an exhibition and workshop space, founded by Mariquita “Micki” Davis and Edward Sterrett, that is dedicated to supporting projects by Pasifika artists in Southern California. They are working towards developing grant-funded residencies for artists, cultural practitioners, curators, and scholars emerging from and focused on Pacific Island cultures and their diasporas. Pilele Projects takes its name from the creative director’s CHamoru grandfather who ran a Mom and Pop store and Laundro-mat in post-war Guam. The store was beloved in the village for being more than a convenience; it was a community center, a place for ceremonies, and a support for local artisans.