September 18 - October 8, 2008
Of Mind and Matter
Ken Takashi Horii

The Chazan Gallery @ Wheeler is presenting recent work by sculptor Ken Takashi Horii from September 18 – October 8, 2008. There will be a reception for the artist on Gallery Night, Thursday, September 18 from 5 - 7 p.m. The public is invited.   Ken Takashi Horii's most recent sculptures and drawings revolve around the objective of resolving dualities as a conceptual framework. This series incorporate three-dimensional and pictorial formats of two branches of Tantric Buddhism, while at the same time, referencing Rorschach ink-blot tests for an inquiry into allusion and illusion in Eastern and Western concepts of perception. Continuing to cultivate his preference for thematic series and also his concern with the reconciliation of opposites, Horii's work realizes his conceptual objective in his process and all related outcomes. These include his choice of materials, techniques, forms and historical references. The work will include wall-mounted and free-standing sculptures made of Baltic birch plywood, absorbent ground and hand-ground Japanese sumi ink. He will also be presenting folded paper, and sumi ink drawings on wood and paper. Ken Horii received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, received his BFA from Cooper Union School of Art in New York and studied at the Art Students League in New York. Currently, he is an Associate Professor and Division Program Coordinator of Foundation Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design. Horii has exhibited widely in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and Chicago. Most recently his work was exhibited with artist Martha Moore at the Lenore Gray Gallery in Providence. Horii is a recipient of the Frazier Award for Teaching Excellence from the Rhode Island School of Design and is also a two-time recipient of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Sculpture Fellowship. Additionally, he has twice been a Visual Art Fellow at The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA concurrently while working as both a Kenneth Stubbs Fellow and Myron Stout Fellow.