RIVET THEIR EYES ON 

Spring, 2022

Naropa University Senior Gallery Showcase

Boulder, Colorado

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Shoen’s work “Rivet their eyes on” reimagines the theme of visibility/invisibility. While staying within the framework of the natural world and the primal human experience, Shoen uses soft hand sewn sculptures to depict the “softening” of one's gaze on oneself and on the outside world. Though this gaze is soft, when amplified, it can induce the claustrophobia of hypervisibility, exposure, and vulnerability. The word rivet means to focus one's gaze completely on someone or something, and this focus can be negative, positive, or even neutral, this is the point of tension that arises from our awareness of the gaze, or focus.

Working with the sensibilities of the Japanese Aesthetic “Wabi-Sabi” , Shoen investigates the imperfect, the decomposing, and the raw, as metaphysical symbols for the illusion of danger often sensed within our impermanent existence. By looking at the natural world, we can come to know that our self conscious natures which cling to the illusion of permanence, though understandable, are nothing more than that, illusions. Look to the fallen branches, the decomposing leaves, the crumbling stones and bark. Do they worry about their appearance? Are they aware of our gaze?

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