“This Too Shall Come to Pass, is an expansion on the usual saying “this too shall pass”, there’s hope within the statement. There’s a liberation attached, in both the moment and the feeling. We all have these hopes and dreams and I’m trying to say that one day is now, it can be now. It might be a few days from now, it might be a few years from now, but it’s going to happen.” – Vivien Kohler, 2022 Gallery MOMO is proud to present Vivien Kohler’s solo exhibition, This Too Shall Come to Pass. This will be Kohler’s second solo with the gallery since presenting “R3:FORM4RE (REFOREME)” in 2019. ARTISTS STATEMENT This Too Shall Come to Pass, is an expansion on the usual saying “this too shall pass”, there is hope within the statement. There is liberation attached, in both the moment and the feeling. We all have these hopes and dreams and I am trying to say that “one day is now”. It might be a few days from now, it might be a few years from now, but it is going to happen. The concept behind the artworks that appear to be flying or levitating, is a metaphor for finding liberation within oneself and breaking away from earthly bonds. That is the genesis of that aesthetic or narrative to encapsulate the title of the exhibition. It is something to aspire to, something to hope towards. When these works were conceptualised, and making them under the circumstances of the pandemic, my observation was that this was a global phenomenon and everyone was experiencing similar emotions. There was a commonality amongst people that we have to get through this, we want to get through this and we will get through this. And that has been the attribution of the affective aspect of these works and their making. The world has definitely been in transition and that has forced us to have a sort of internal struggle, to dig deeper within ourselves. For inspiration, I looked to Greco-Roman sculptures, although I tried not to be too specific in this reference. I find being specific leads to alienation and in these works I try to dispel the notion that one has to be versed in the history of Greco-Roman philosophy or its aesthetics. For me, that does not matter. So, I’ve taken that notion out of context, thereby allowing other kinds of persons to enter into that being, into that likeness and in this case, the black body. The power of these images lies in the heuristic and invitation for each person to see themselves within them. Previously, I have used actual found objects; I have used cardboard. This time around, I have tried to replicate all the qualities of the found materials. The found objects are replicated with resin and fiberglass. I decided to “arrest” the natural process that found objects would naturally go through such as rust and decay, thus giving the works longevity. But the decision to replicate is not only for archival purposes, it is also in terms of the insights of my work, which is reality versus perception. There is reality, but then there’s also the perception of reality. We do not always live in both worlds. Most of the time we live in the perception of reality, especially in our current culture. So, the materiality of the work, the found objects allude to the reality of the truth and the painted parts are the perceptions. And this is a beautiful dichotomy between those two, as this too shall come to pass.

Source: gallerymomo