Waters Run Deep
Fine Arts Gallery, Fine Arts Building Room 2398, San Francisco State University
Aug. 10 through Sept. 7, 2024
The Fine Arts Gallery at SF State will present the exhibition Waters Run Deep from Aug. 10 through Sept. 7, 2024. Waters Run Deep explores the mythical and mystical properties of water. Guest curated by Rogelio Cruz (B.A., 2024), the exhibition features Maëlis Bekkouche, Alexis C. Garcia, Lindsay Gauthier with Fog Beast, Tiare Ribeaux, Ana Paula Teixeira and Jessica Tully.
60% of the human body is made up of water, and 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. Water, in every shape and form, is a building block for life on Earth, and its importance has been recognized by many, both in the physical by sustaining life, but also in the spiritual. Water is critical in many religious and ritual practices around the world. This manifests as deities dedicated to bodies of water and rain, cleansing rituals and the recognition of the integral connection of water and life.
The artists included in Waters Run Deep explore their own personal, cultural and metaphysical connections to water. Maëlis Bekkouche's "Fish Woman" is a video performance describing her connection to the ocean, as she covers her body in fish skins and transforms into who she calls "fish woman." This connection is further exemplified by her sculptural work recycling fish and animal bones. Alexis C. Garcia's short film "Daughter of the Sea" follows the story of grief and healing through reconnecting to Yemaya, the Orisha who controls the oceans in Yoruba spirituality. Lindsay Gauthier with Fog Beast's "These Lines Are Living" is a film based on a series of performances commissioned by Headlands Center for the Arts. "These Lines Are Living" is the inaugural presentation by Fog Beast (Melecio Estrella and Andrew Ward) of a series of outdoor, site-specific performances that began at shorelines across the Bay Area in 2020. Multi-generational and participatory, "These Lines Are Living" brings attention to how our bodies, communities and governing institutions interact with and conceptualize shorelines in a time of accelerating climatic and social change. The film of the performance that we will be screening was created by Lindsay Gauthier. Tiare Ribeaux's "Pō'ele Wai (As The Water Darkens)" is a short film about a weaver who experiences a transformation when they find their drinking water has been poisoned by fuel leaking into O‘ahu’s watersheds. In "Ulu Kupu," Ribeaux emphasizes the sacredness of wai (water), and the rainforests that hold our watersheds. Depicted through video, photography, sculpture, botanical art, paintings, and kapa, our interconnectedness and responsibility to the elements that sustain us is offered as a remembrance to the viewer, along with a respect for the land we inhabit and are stewards of. Ana Paula Teixeira, Puerto Rican photographer Ana Paula Teixeira, centers her photography around women of color, frequently photographing them in different bodies of water and using imagery that is undeniably inspired by the afro-indigenous cultures of the Caribbean. Jessica Tully's "Submersion: The Secret Language of Water" documents a site-specific performance ritual and video installation reconnecting Jewish women's 4,000-year-old purity rites with the contemporary water practices of the artist and her secular grandmother during the late 1970s.
"Waters Run Deep" showcases the work of emerging curator Rogelio Cruz. Rogelio was born and raised in Sonoma County. From an early age discovered his love for the visual arts and dance, and he recently graduated from San Francisco State University majoring in Fine Art and minoring in Dance. He views his personal art practice as a ritual, one that allows him to connect to the earth, himself and his ancestral ties. His vision is that this collection of work captures the importance of prioritizing and celebrating our personal connections to the element of water. Life began in the ancient oceans, and it is in the waters that we can reflect on the sacredness of our own existence.
The exhibition program at SFSU Fine Arts Gallery positions emerging and mid-career artists from the Bay Area in conversation with national and international artists to consider global issues. Ever seeking to broaden the canon of contemporary art and future art histories, the SFSU Fine Arts Gallery centers on the presentation of artists of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences