Urge To Open

March 20 – May 31, 2022 | Public Land Gallery, Sacramento

For Lena Gustafson's first exhibition at Public Land Gallery, the artist offers a diverse collection of work employing various mediums of painting, drawing, mixed media and printmaking. Urge To Open showcases familiar iconography associated with the artist's past work: sequences of blooming flora, vibrant abstract figures of women, loose gestural paintings and more. Speaking on the figurative work she creates, the artist has said, "A lot of my figurative paintings come from the experience of inhabiting a body. Often the borders separating the figure from their environment are blurred or fractured. I'm interested in showing the ever present possibility of transformation that can occur within a person."

Living and working in Oakland, CA, Gustafson also finds inspiration amongst her creative peers, finding value in community over individual gains. The artist puts this ethos into practice with the publishing of her own magazine entitled Practice, where she interviews and photographs a diverse group of artists from her community to better understand their individual studio practices. While each new body of work tackles varying ideas and subjects, Gustafson continually challenges a wide range of themes relating to energy, time, body memory, reciprocity, evolution, memory, sound, and community.

Exhibition Images

About the Artist

Lena Gustafson lives and works in Oakland, CA. She received her BFA from the Art Institute of Boston in 2011. She operates a small experimental print publishing studio, Night Diver Press, with a goal to collaborate with various visual artists to develop original works for reproduction and print media. She also publishes Practice, a magazine interviewing and photographing artists from her community.

Inquiries

For price inquiries, please contact us at info@publiclandstore.com.