Navigational Instruments
Erin Cunningham and Sarah Hirneisen
Exhibition Dates: August 22, 2020 – September 19, 2020
Navigational Instruments, Erin Cunningham and Sarah Hirneisen search for solutions in an environment at risk. They replicate and re-contextualize everyday objects used to alert and protect the public from unseen danger, such as respirators, traffic cones, safety fencing, and carbon monoxide detectors. In addition to items used to indicate hidden dangers, mystical tools such as divining rods tell stories of where water or other resources can be found beyond the human eye. Their constructions have been re-imagined as rudimentary instruments to navigate the unknown and guide us towards solutions. Natural elements burst through these man-made replicas optimistically reaching toward a better future.
Erin Cunningham (b. 1979 Honolulu, HI) is an artist living and working in Austin, Texas. She received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003 and an MFA in studio art from The University of Texas at Austin in 2007. With a focus in sculpture, her work utilizes material combinations, such as cast metals, and the female figure to explore dualities of masculine and feminine, disposable and precious, fragility and strength. She has shown both nationally and internationally, including The Metropolitan Art Museum in Tokyo and at Mönchskirche Salzwedel, in Salzwedel, Germany. She has been the recipient of several residencies including BAER Art Center in Hofsos, Iceland as well as Atelierhaus Residency Hilmsen in Hilmsen, Germany. She currently holds a position as an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin. erincunninghamart.com
Sarah Hirneisen (b. 1978 Reading, PA) is an Austin based artist working with three-dimensional materials and processes. She received a BFA in glass from Rhode Island School of Design in 2001 and an MFA in sculpture from Mills College in 2011. She has participated in residencies at Free Oakland UP and the Hungarian Multicultural Center and has been awarded a Community Initiatives grant from the City of Austin, an Individual Artist Grant through the City of Oakland and a Phelan, Murphy & Cadogan fellowship from the San Francisco Foundation. She currently teaches sculpture at Texas State in San Marcos and has taught at Mills College, Cabrillo College, and City College of San Francisco. She has exhibited her work extensively throughout the US as well as Hungary, Korea and England. sarahhirneisen.com
