Glendale Arts presents Aphorisms by Corrie Siegel at the ace/121 Gallery. The exhibit will be on view through Nov. 11.

Siegel uses the arts as a method of philosophic exploration and a tool for community building. Her works often explore identity and politics through lineages of craft. She plays with personal limitations of knowledge and understanding by using detailed observation and involved processes for collecting and rendering her subject matter. 

Aphorisms has been a work in progress since 2020.

“The project started as a form of self-help during the lockdown. I would think of a guiding idea and once I settled on a short phrase or sentence I would write it over and over until there was a tangled mess of text,” said Siegel. “Then I would carefully paint within the negative space with the aim to give the watercolor pigment as much freedom as it could have in each small parcel of space.”

Watercolor is a new medium to Siegel.

“Watercolor paint can be messy, delicate, controlled, gestural, bold or gossamer,” she said. “It’s mostly water just like our bodies too. I’ve been thinking about the way a body internalizes language and pushes against it. Despite the sage advice I give myself, I can’t follow it … Can I follow it?” 

The ace/121 Gallery is located at 121 N. Kenwood St. in GlendaleThe Gallery is open from Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.