Mie Kongo, Nafis White

press release:  Arts + Literature Laboratory (ALL) is proud to announce two upcoming exhibitions, both on display October 6–October 28, 2017. Mie Kongo and Nafis White each were prizewinners of national juried exhibitions in 2016, granting them the opportunity to present solo shows at ALL. Kongo’s Unknown Game Series focuses on themes of balance and play. Whites’ Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun focuses on self-perception and history. The public is invited to an opening reception on October 6^th from 5–9pm. The gallery is also open Tuesdays­–Saturdays from 11am–3pm, or by appointment.

Unknown Game Series, Mie Kongo: Mie Kongo is the prizewinner of Beyond Function, a 2016 national group exhibition juried by Gail Simpson. In Unknown Game Series, Mie Kongo’s work reflects her interest in using art to convey the ideas of natural balance, unification of opposites and interdependence of all things. Though Kongo initially began working with ceramics, she has expanded her mediums to include materials such as porcelain, wool felt and found furniture. In her practice, Kongo explores the relationships between seemingly dissimilar materials, successfully creating cohesive finished pieces with a playful tone. The work invites the viewer to ask questions about balance, both visually and physically. The curiosity the pieces ignite mirror Kongo’s personal focus on “play,” as each viewer will engage with a piece uniquely. It appears as though each piece belongs in the arrangement in which it exists, as a single, unified object, often appearing to defy conventional expectations of gravity. Kongo’s bodies of work seem autonomous, as if there was no human intervention involved.

Kongo is originally from Tokyo, Japan. She received a BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an MFA in Ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art and completed residencies in Japan, the Netherlands and Germany. She has shown her work nationally and internationally, and is now a resident of Evanston, IL, working as an adjunct assistant professor in the ceramics department at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and continuing to create two-dimensional and sculptural art.

Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun, Nafis White: Nafis White is the prizewinner of the 2016 national exhibition It Can Happen Here, juried by Reginald Baylor. White’s exhibition, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun, features synthetic hair, as well as materials from other unexpected sources. She sends a powerful message about self-perception, using hair as a primary symbol for this. Her work ranges in size and medium, from smaller hair arrangements to 14-foot woven helix structures, as well as photographs and video. White’s inspiration for this show stems from her interest in honoring and consciously remembering Black history. Her work transforms the dialogue that once surrounded Black hair, demonstrating that is meant to take up space and have an association with esteem. White exaggerates pattern and scale, emphasizing color and texture, showing the resilience and power of a people whose very existence and aesthetics have been the subject of ridicule, persecution and systemic erasure since their harrowing and iniquitous arrival upon these shores.

White attained a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, studied at Goldsmiths University in 2016 and is currently an MFA candidate at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has shown work in private and public galleries nationally and internationally. White is focused on exploring the concepts of identity, equality and the political landscape through sculpture, photography, video and performance, using her personal experiences as a dynamic center for this process.