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7 Heron St, SF CA

Hours and appointments vary by exhibition, please check the specific event listing.

Exhibition Series

Phase Shift

Zai Divecha

Saturday February 25th 6-9 pm
By appointment through March 25
Closing Reception Thursday March 23rd 5-7pm

Heron Arts is pleased to announce the solo exhibition from San Francisco-based artist Zai Divecha. The show will feature new works from the artist’s latest series of paper sculptures alongside corresponding stop-motion videos of the sculptures. The opening reception for Phase Shift is Saturday, February 25th, 2023 from 6-9pm. It is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on view to the public until March 25th, by appointment only.

Phase Shift is inspired by zoetropes and phenakistoscopes, which are early animation devices that produce the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. Zai is drawn to these analog forms of creating the illusion of movement. In many of her pieces, she’ll create a series of paper structures in which each unit is slightly different from the last. Zai photographs them sequentially to create short, animated films. Her stop-motion films play with the contrast between the analog materials (paper, thread), and surrealist animation.

These variations can signify how identity is entirely situational, and change is our only constant. Divecha breaks these ideas down in a uniquely elegant way by taking the self out of it entirely and using minimalist geometric forms to illustrate how what we might see as static is actually changing incrementally over time. Folded white paper, light, and shadow are the only elements employed in creating these pieces, and the stop-motion recording allows us to see that incremental change happening before our eyes.

The body of work presented as a whole is meant to create a calming experience for the viewer by turning the volume down on sensory input with an all-white palette so the viewer can ruminate on the subtlety of change.

Other works in this collection employ a sense of tension in their compositions that imply movement or the prospect of it, like a stack of rice grains about to tumble. You might feel you need to hold your arms under the artwork to catch all the pieces that look like they could topple over.

Phase Shift will also include a site-specific installation filling the atrium of the gallery that explores polyhedral transformations. As viewers walk around the installation, they will see each subtle change in the shape of a form that eventually results in an entirely different form. Viewers will essentially get to walk through an enlarged version of one of Zai Divecha’s stop-motion videos.

Works

Then Crawl (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
16"h x 32"w x 1.5"d
$4,500Inquire

Intersect (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
22"h x 22"w x 1.5"d
$3,500

Perennial Bloom (1/2) (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
2 panels - 40”h x 57”w x 1 7/8"d
$15,000

Perennial Bloom (2/2) (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
2 panels - 40”h x 57”w x 1 7/8"d
$15,000

See Where This Goes No. 1
Zai Divecha
Paper
16"h x 9"w x 1.5"d
$1,200

See Where This Goes No. 2
Zai Divecha
Paper
16"h x 9"w x 1.5"d
$1,200

I'll Just Take The Stairs No. 1
Zai Divecha
Paper
24"h x 14"w x .75"d
$3,300

I'll Just Take The Stairs No. 2
Zai Divecha
Paper
24"h x 14"w x .75"d
$3,300

Crystal (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
10.75"h x 10.75"w x 1.5"d
$1,300Inquire

Cube Phenakistoscope (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
30"h x 30"w x 1.5"d
$7,000

Iceberg Phenakistascope (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
30"h x 30"w x 1.5"d
$6,500Inquire

The Rice and Chessboard Problem
Zai Divecha
Paper
36"h x 60"w x 1 3/8"d
$8,800

Pull Yourself Together
Zai Divecha
Paper
28"h x 17"w x 1.5"d
$3,500

Mixed (1/2)
Zai Divecha
Paper
2x panels - 24”h x 36”w x 1.5”d
$13,800

Mixed (2/2)
Zai Divecha
Paper
2x panels - 24”h x 36”w x 1.5”d
$13,800

Serpentine (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
22"h x 22"w x 1.5"d
$3,800Inquire

Carousel No. 1 (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
9.75"h x 9.75"w x 1.1"d
$1,300Inquire

Carousel No. 2 (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
9.75"h x 9.75"w x 1.1"d
$1,300Inquire

Eclipse (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
9.75"h x 9.75"w x 1.1"d
$1,300

Truncated No. 1 (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
9.75"h x 9.75"w x 1.1"d
$1,300Inquire

Truncated No. 2 (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
9.75"h x 9.75"w x 1.1"d
$1,300Inquire

Splat (video)
Zai Divecha
Original paper work + digital video frame
9.75"h x 9.75"w x 1.1"d
$1,200Inquire

Proxemics
Zai Divecha
Paper
25.5"h x 22 3/4"w x 0.75"d
$4,200

Frame Detail
Zai Divecha
Wood
Inquire

Tetartoid Cycle (Installation)
Zai Divecha
Hanging Paper
Inquire