Artist Torreya Cummings

Torreya Cummings – Artist Statement

History, Memory, Fiction

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the idea that I could accidentally slip into an alternate dimension and never be seen again. Now I think we do it all the time and don’t notice.

I work with history, absurdity, electricity, light, evaporation, pirate radio, junk, salt, glitter, mixed feelings, construction materials, radio control cars, expectations, and other vernacularities.

In practical terms, this translates to sculpture, video, photography, drawing, and environments, driven by concerns of time, space, location, gender and sexuality, with an eye towards revealing complications in the apparently simple, making room for possibilities between and beyond.

Right now I'm thinking a lot about the Wild West and what that means or might have meant if things had been different, particularly as it relates to urban and rural social divides from a queer perspective.

The Radio Control Tumbleweeds bring to mind a number of things- tumbleweeds represent rootlessness, a sense of freedom and wandering, but tumbleweeds are a sure sign that one is in “the middle of nowhere” or a “cow town”. Historically from Russia, the plant itself traveled west with the help of the railroad and livestock. These tumbleweeds were mail ordered from a tumbleweed farm in Kansas, a sign that tumbleweeds are now using the internet and e-commerce to get from place to place. These particular tumbleweeds have adapted to urban conditions. In a way, they have a life of their own, but ultimately the viewer controls them. As the tumbleweeds get closer together, the radio frequencies from the controllers begin to interfere with each other, resulting in a power struggle.

Resume

Education

2009 MFA, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

1992 BA, University Of California, Davis, Davis, CA

Exhibitions

Solo

2004 Inter-Action, Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA

Group (Selected)

2009 The Polemics of Love, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2009 Size doesn’t matter/Size always matters, Million Fishes, San Francisco, CA
2009 Home is something I carry with me, various locations in San Francisco, CA
2009 A trip down (false) memory lane, The Lexington Club, San Francisco, CA
2009 Sweet and Matchless, Playspace, San Francisco, CA
2009 MFA Exhibition, CCA, San Francisco, CA
2009 Middle of Nowhere, Lump Gallery, Raleigh, NC
2009 Threads, SomArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Ersatz Group Show, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
2009 Interim Infills, (intersection of Cesar Chavez & Potrero) San Francisco, CA
2008 Other Than History, Torreya Cummings, Patricia Esquivas, & Airyka Rockefeller, Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 One of these things is not like the other things, galleria 1/9 unosunove, Rome, Italy
2008 Hypnotic Show, Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 Making Room For Wonder, SomArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 Queerity, Million Fishes, San Francisco, CA
2007 The Moving Crew (Land Grant Flag-State Construct) bemisUNDERGROUND, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Ohmaha, NB
2007 Home, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2006 Fem Art: La Casa, Ca la Dona, Barcelona, Spain
2006 What Comes Around, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA
2006 Hope and Healing in Times of War, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 Gift Shop, Another Year In LA, Los Angeles, CA
2005 My Country Right or Left: Artists Respond to the State of the Union, Delta Center for the Arts/ LH Horton Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA
2005 Shadowbox: Art in its Own Light, LoBot Gallery, Oakland CA
2005 Face to Face, Sierra College Ridley Gallery, Rocklin, CA
2004 Surprisingly Good Additions to the Permanent Collection, Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA
2004 Cheap Rent, Slatter’s Court Art Museum (S.C.A.M.), Davis, CA
2003 Queer Photo Competition and Exhibition, LGBT Center, San Francisco, CA
2003 Gimme Polaroid IV, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA

Awards

2003 Honorable Mention, Queer Photo Competition and Exhibition, LGBT Center, San Francisco, CA

Publications

2009 “X-Ray Vision Through Art,” JD Beltran, Art and CultSelectedure Fix, SFGate.com
2009 “Art: Torreya Cummings, Patricia Esquivias, and Airyka Rockefeller: Other Than History” Jeanne Storck, Flavorpill.com

Collections

Gregory Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College



	Torreya Cummings – Artist Statement History, Memory, Fiction When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the idea that I could accidentally slip into an alternate dimension and never be seen again. Now I think we do it all the time and don’t notice. I work with history, absurdity, electricity, light, evaporation, pirate radio, junk, salt, glitter, mixed feelings, construction materials, radio control cars, expectations, and other vernacularities. In practical terms, this translates to sculpture, video, photography, drawing, and environments, driven by concerns of time, space, location, gender and sexuality, with an eye towards revealing complications in the apparently simple, making room for possibilities between and beyond. Right now I'm thinking a lot about the Wild West and what that means or might have meant if things had been different, particularly as it relates to urban and rural social divides from a queer perspective. The Radio Control Tumbleweeds bring to mind a number of things- tumbleweeds represent rootlessness, a sense of freedom and wandering, but tumbleweeds are a sure sign that one is in “the middle of nowhere” or a “cow town”. Historically from Russia, the plant itself traveled west with the help of the railroad and livestock. These tumbleweeds were mail ordered from a tumbleweed farm in Kansas, a sign that tumbleweeds are now using the internet and e-commerce to get from place to place. These particular tumbleweeds have adapted to urban conditions. In a way, they have a life of their own, but ultimately the viewer controls them. As the tumbleweeds get closer together, the radio frequencies from the controllers begin to interfere with each other, resulting in a power struggle. Resume Education 2009 MFA, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA 1992 BA, University Of California, Davis, Davis, CA Exhibitions Solo 2004 Inter-Action, Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA Group (Selected) 2009 The Polemics of Love, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ 2009 Size doesn’t matter/Size always matters, Million Fishes, San Francisco, CA 2009 Home is something I carry with me, various locations in San Francisco, CA 2009 A trip down (false) memory lane, The Lexington Club, San Francisco, CA 2009 Sweet and Matchless, Playspace, San Francisco, CA 2009 MFA Exhibition, CCA, San Francisco, CA 2009 Middle of Nowhere, Lump Gallery, Raleigh, NC 2009 Threads, SomArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2009 Ersatz Group Show, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA 2009 Interim Infills, (intersection of Cesar Chavez & Potrero) San Francisco, CA 2008 Other Than History, Torreya Cummings, Patricia Esquivas, & Airyka Rockefeller, Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2008 One of these things is not like the other things, galleria 1/9 unosunove, Rome, Italy 2008 Hypnotic Show, Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2008 Making Room For Wonder, SomArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2008 Queerity, Million Fishes, San Francisco, CA 2007 The Moving Crew (Land Grant Flag-State Construct) bemisUNDERGROUND, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Ohmaha, NB 2007 Home, Root Division, San Francisco, CA 2006 Fem Art: La Casa, Ca la Dona, Barcelona, Spain 2006 What Comes Around, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA 2006 Hope and Healing in Times of War, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2006 Gift Shop, Another Year In LA, Los Angeles, CA 2005 My Country Right or Left: Artists Respond to the State of the Union, Delta Center for the Arts/ LH Horton Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA 2005 Shadowbox: Art in its Own Light, LoBot Gallery, Oakland CA 2005 Face to Face, Sierra College Ridley Gallery, Rocklin, CA 2004 Surprisingly Good Additions to the Permanent Collection, Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA 2004 Cheap Rent, Slatter’s Court Art Museum (S.C.A.M.), Davis, CA 2003 Queer Photo Competition and Exhibition, LGBT Center, San Francisco, CA 2003 Gimme Polaroid IV, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA Awards 2003 Honorable Mention, Queer Photo Competition and Exhibition, LGBT Center, San Francisco, CA Publications 2009 “X-Ray Vision Through Art,” JD Beltran, Art and CultSelectedure Fix, SFGate.com 2009 “Art: Torreya Cummings, Patricia Esquivias, and Airyka Rockefeller: Other Than History” Jeanne Storck, Flavorpill.com Collections Gregory Kondos Gallery, Sacramento City College





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