ROY presents: Benedict Scheuer & Noah Kashiani

Desert River

The river, a neck, long…runs from spring, through earth, to an oasis far from sight.  

Snake of water, where are you flowing? My mouth is dry.

I must gulp. Not sip. Not taste. Just fill. Just drown.

Teach me to bite the apple whole.

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Profound experiences of looking have occurred for me while mindfully centering my vision on a subject—flowers, art, the eyes of a lover.  In these moments, my hold on the surrounding environment collapses symmetrically inward, vibrating and lifting in a spectrum of light. Akin to a psychedelic experience, I have difficulty articulating such sensation in words. Through painting as both picture and sculptural element, I call upon meditation, the void, gardening, and the residue of a brilliant love to articulate that vision is a profound portal to connection, healing, and mystery.  

Materially, I am infatuated with silk and paper for the macabre romance of their origin (dead plants and dead silkworms) as well as their ability to absorb and transport dye and watercolor through their fibers. In drawing lines on these surfaces with wax crayons and resist (a paste squeezed through an applicator onto silk), liquid colors are contained and directed, occasionally penetrating through their bounds like a spot of crimson blood seeping into a white, gauze bandage. I use painting/drawing in conjunction with objects from the garden (soil and dead flowers) to construct a world of colorful, spiritual theaters: their rituals, their organisms, and their artifacts. Meditating daily with each artwork as it is intuitively brought into being, these works are the symmetrical collapse and seam between my internal and external environments.  

Inescapable in this particular body of work is a repeating, black void. The void references the eye’s pupil and an infinitum of celestial bodies such as moons and suns. In passing through these voids, pleasure and growth may surmount fear. I urge all to gather their attention to these points as a soft palm on which to let the eyes rest. Then, in half-smile, begin a mindful breath.   

1. What is your name and preferred pronouns?

Benedict Scheuer (He/Him)

 2. How has art (whether it be your own or art in general) changed you?

Art has brought me the capacity to be more loving, more curious, and has allowed me to uncover a greater appreciation and belief in sensation as profound and urgently important to our humanity.

 3. How did you start your artistic practice? 

I have always been someone who made art, but my practice truly began when I started developing a curiosity for mindfulness as written about by one of my heroes, Thich Nhat Hanh. From this influence, I learned that it is possible to shift my attention away from a running-monologue of thoughts and towards a sensorial presence. As a result, I now begin time in the studio with meditation. This change has allowed me to shift my focus to one that is less fixated on thinking and more pleasurably attuned to my environment, body, and the art that grows between the two.

4. When a first-time viewer sees your work, what is the first word that you hope they think when looking at it? 

I hope that first they experience a bodily reaction, an immersion and attention to their senses. There isn’t one word, as I believe my work functions uniquely with the experiences and perceptions carried by each individual. That being said, if someone told me that they thought and felt the word “Kindness” while looking at my work, I would be over the moon.

I go to multiple thrift stores each day, the amount of excess clothing and objects in this world is concerning. In my most recent made objects relatively simple color schemes were employed to unify the original up-cycled materials. Almost all materials are sourced from thrift stores around Chicago. My work is a testament to high fashion. Not only aesthetically, but also by placing emphasis on materialism and late capitalism. Adding a subtle yet seductive finish to my sculptures fuels our humanistic desire for a seemingly lavish object, while masking the used unwanted original material. In several works I pay homage to moments commenting on the irony of societal obligations, conscious overindulgence and neglect of domestic standards.

1. What is your name and preferred pronouns?

Noah Kashiani, He/Him

 2. How has art (whether it be your own or art in general) changed you?

For me, Art acts as a personal psychologist. Art has allowed me to gain a better understanding of the world, as well as a better understanding of myself.

 3. How did you start your artistic practice? 

I would paint pictures of rappers and design basketball shoes to hang in my room when I was a teenager.

4. When a first-time viewer sees your work, what is the first word that you hope they think when looking at it? 

SWAG