I want to be able to find the light switches at your house in the dark
Alex Gingrow
flashe, ink, graphite, colored pencil, and gesso on paper
2020
NFS
Designed by Ejecta Projects
sassafras and aluminum
packaged with 100% beeswax candles and Swedish matches
$25
This work by Alex Gingrow uses the structure and form of diagrammed sentences as a response to a longing for order and structure in the midst of chaos, both political and personal. The verse is poetic, evocative of desire and intimacy, but here is also constrained or interpreted by an almost scientific, pictorial representation of a sentence. At once, Gingrow synthesizes verse and order as both text and picture. The rational structure of her syntax is seemingly at odds with this allusion to a more sentimental yearning to find one’s entry into art and poetry, as well as to know and love another person.
Trå is the third annual tealight candle holder designed by Ejecta Projects. Inspired by Gingrow’s connotation of darkness and light in a domestic space, as well as the diagonal diagramming of her sentence, this candle holder mirrors the linearity as well as the narrative of the accompanying artwork. Translated from the Norwegian, Trå can be understood as to step or tread, and here might imply the careful walk through a dim house, but it will also bring light – in this season of darkness – to your loved relations.
Alex Gingrow is a New York-based artist who makes mixed-media drawings and paintings through which she has unflinchingly addressed war, racism, and the business of art. The product of a long line of storytellers, she incorporates text into her work, which is always derived from a larger narrative.