CP Projects Space at the School of Visual Arts is pleased to present “They Kept Showing Up, for Days,” curated by MA Curatorial Practice student Tzu-Ying (Naomi) Chan. As Heinrich Zimmer has written, “Symbols hold the mind to truth but are not themselves the truth; hence it is delusory to borrow them. Each civilization, every age, must bring forth its own.”

This idea is explored in “They Kept Showing Up, for Days,” revealing the tensions between common understandings of symbols in the specific context of different cultures, times and the works of cultural producers, as well as in broader contexts. Artists Kate Strachan, Elias Melad and Cheyenne Preston offer their own stories to viewers for subjective reinterpretation, from written texts to new symbolic imagery.

Kate Strachan’s work is deeply engaged by the material presence of materials, specifically ceramic, felt, wood and wax, which evoke a sense of intimate, silent study. Her practice is grounded in the German Lutheran immigrant community in Pennsylvania in which she was raised. Lutheranism is a word-based faith, therefore the symbolic weight of words is given deep resonance in her work’s expression of identity. “They Kept Showing Up, for Days” includes two installations, Mad & Sad and As You Are, each of which entangles the power of her materials with the symbolic weight of specific words as a way of getting at the complexities of interpersonal relationships.

Elias Melad’s new paintings are inspired by his response to musical notes and notation. By distorting notation, Melad arouses an uncertainty in viewers about those symbols and signs, which, ordinarily, have a clear and definite meaning. Despite such destabilization of the notes, we still can visualize what the symbol might represent. Included in this exhibition are four works, En passant (For Pendrecki), Blind Pigs, Slight Return and Lilt.

Cheyenne Preston’s installations are self-explorations of her response to the loss of control. They developed from the process of refusing to be bold for the sake of boldness alone, and to express a self that originated from within the self, not from external influences. By using raw canvas, sewn canvas, pen, sharpie, acrylic and silkscreen prints, Preston creates a bridge between the facade that language and text may project and intimations of a more authentic selfhood.