While Krysten Cunningham’s work is quite varied in terms of medium, it is very much of a piece in terms of her conceptual interests. Her practice investigates the relationships among line, color, and space. These are traditional sculptural concerns, and Cunningham’s sculpture is in fact often informed by high Modernism (in particular the Russian avant-garde, Joan Miró, Piet Mondrian, Alexander Calder, and Charles and Ray Eames). At the same time, the handcrafted nature of Cunningham’s work connects her to any number of contemporary artists operating in the gap between “art” and “craft,” including Channing Hansen, Jessica Stockholder, Pae White, Andrea Zittel, and others. In addition to these concerns, Cunningham is interested in mathematical ideas about space time and the fourth dimension, and how these might be communicated via art.
Grey ball of yarn [Twisted Octagon, Yellow Rectangle] speaks to Cunningham’s interest in mathematics and space time, to her interest in the handmade and craft, and to her beautiful sense of color. The eponymous yellow rectangle is painted directly onto the wall, while the two octagonal forms are created by nails driven into the wall. Handmade and hand-dyed yarn is stretched between the nails, forming what reads as both a torqued or twisted volumetric shape and a ghost or aura of that form.