Light as Air: Exhibit

Explore the beauty in tension: a balance of forms, the contrast between heavy and light, and the significance of negative space.

The material properties of metals and our relationship to the physical world around us are in flux throughout this exhibition. Light as Air, curated in-house, showcases examples from a variety of scales, perspectives, and metalworking fields that appear to uplift, flutter, float, or hold air. Connections to Craft traditions appear throughout, with nods to traditions in weaving, sewing, printing and papermaking. 

The stunning array of metal-based works drawn from contemporary artists and the Museum’s permanent collection illustrates ways in which artists defy gravity, reframe light, and buoy the body. The works defy our expectations of metal, creating illusions that trick the viewer into a brief escape, or a momentary “weightlessness” from the gravity of everyday life. 

By guiding the viewer to look beyond the material’s inherent heaviness, it is possible to see, even if momentarily — a lightness in the objects’ existence. Necklaces, collars, braces, wire structures, and inflated sculptures suggest the possibility of uplifting through solid form. As a result, the artists and their works invite a reprieve from the heaviness of our daily existence and the persistent gravitational pull.