Providence City Hall to Host ‘Touching the Veil’ by Caitlin Cali and Samantha Ng
Providence City Hall to Host ‘Touching the Veil’ by Caitlin Cali and Samantha Ng
Prints and illustrations on view from October 18, 2018 to January 14, 2019
PROVIDENCE, RI – Mayor Jorge O. Elorza and the Department of Art, Culture + Tourism invite you to visit the Gallery at City Hall for its newest installation Touching the Veil: Prints and Illustrations by Caitlin Cali and Samantha Ng. This exhibition features macramé and illustration as well as archival elements that speak to process. It’s on view weekdays from 8:30am to 4:30pm, October 18, 2018 to January 14, 2019.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 18, 2018 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm on the second floor of Providence City Hall, 25 Dorrance Street. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.
Caitlin Cali and Samantha Ng explore what it means to touch, and even peer, behind the veils separating worlds. Raised in Hong Kong, Ng portrays impish demons and fiery ghosts that writhe and cascade across rice paper surfaces. These printed works are emblematic of ancient Chinese and Japanese woodblock techniques, but they also showcase the artist’s western cultural influences. In one untitled print, a snarling tiger emerges from swirling clouds; in another, pitchfork-wielding devils gesture to an enormous fish.
While Ng mixes symbols to explore the feeling of living in between Asian and American cultures, Cali’s gauche and watercolor vignettes touch the veil between the worlds of the living in the dead. The body of work she is showing at City Hall has helped her transform the intimate experience of her mother’s transition from one of struggling to confront a fearsome monster, to that of living with everyday hauntings. In “Floating with a Ghost,” a figure with a face in its chest perches on a sentient cloud; the moon and sun peer down as an ethereal specter rises up through a storm of tears. Cali says that working through her personal relationship to death has been scary, but also liberating; sharing it in her work helps her remain brave and eager as she faces the world.
About the Artists:
Caitlin Cali’s work is mostly a form of personal storytelling, but she hopes that there are elements of it that are universal as well. Having lived in Providence since 2009, she has worked as a teacher, mentor, and human services provider. She enjoys drawing, making comics, painting, feeling the biggest and most thrilling emotions, and trying to understand them, often through her art.
Samantha Ng is an artist and printmaker from Hong Kong. Her recent work touches on complexities of third culture identity and cultural rootlessness. Growing up with various influences, Ng’s prints reflect a globalized sense of living in between cultures. She weaves conflicting imagery and motifs together into an intricate tapestry of chaos. Ng is currently refining her practice at Rhode Island School of Design, exploring various artistic techniques through her work towards earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking.
About the Gallery at City Hall: Offering space to artists and organizations that might not have a permanent gallery, the Gallery at City Hall exhibits an eclectic array of work that highlights the artistic and cultural diversity found in the Providence community. The Gallery is open to the public during City Hall business hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm and is located at 25 Dorrance Street | 2nd Floor | Providence, RI 02903. For more information go to artculturetourism.com/main-gallery
City Hall is easily accessible by all forms of transportation. For Information on parking, visit parkdowntownprovidence.com. Bus schedules are available at www.ripta.com.