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This expert panel discussion, hosted at C24 Gallery, explored how acts of violence are woven into the fabric of modern culture and particularly how it impacts children and animals. With a focus on the works of Berlin-based crochet artist Patricia Waller, the conversation shed light on the use of unconventional methods to address inconvenient, difficult topics such as violence, as well as the role of art as an instrument for political awareness. The artist was joined by Hrag Vartanian (Editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic), Ariane Lignier, (Communications Officer for the UN's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict), and Sharon Louden (Advocate, community builder and Executive Director of Women's Studio Workshop).
About the Exhibition:
Child’s Play is the first solo exhibition by Berlin-based artist Patricia Waller at C24 Gallery. The show displays the myriad ways that Waller explores how violence is woven into the fabric of modern culture, particularly as it impacts children and animals. Her crocheted figures combine elements of cartoon-like innocence with sinister undertones and graphic depictions of both accidental and purposeful injury. The juxtaposition of these contrasting elements conjures both humor and horror, awakening the senses of viewers to profound effect.
Waller's ambiguous works raise uncomfortable questions about how we deal with the various forms of violence in our society: the violence to which we are exposed, which we perpetrate ourselves and which we consume with relish. In so doing, she encourages us to reconsider how we deal with our fears and our ability to address or repress them.
Banner and Event Photos: Adrián Fernández Milanés/Courtsey of C24 Gallery, and Katja Wiesbrock Donovan/1014.
Biographies
Berlin-based artist Patricia Waller is well known for her colorful crocheted works that deliver serious messages about violence and abuse via a medium that is more commonly associated with comfort. Chilean-born Waller has made a decades-long career of responding to the growing acceptance of violence in the world as well as satirizing and playing with cultural mythologies and norms.
Patricia Waller has been widely exhibited throughout Germany and also in China, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and more recently at C24 Gallery in last year’s group exhibition, Conflicted. She is represented in the United States by C24 Gallery, and in Europe by Galerie Deschler, Berlin.
Sharon Louden wears many interchangeable hats including artist, educator, advocate for artists, consultant, community builder, editor of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, and Executive Director of Women’s Studio Workshop. Sharon graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University School of Art. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Drawing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Weisman Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, and others.
Sharon is currently a faculty member in the MFA Fine Arts program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In addition to teaching, she continues to conduct grassroots Glowtown workshops in schools and not-for-profit organizations across the country and she is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Sustained Creativity. Her new upcoming book, Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Lifeover 50, will be published in early 2025.
With over 10 years of experience in international advocacy, communication, and humanitarian work, Ariane Lignier serves as the Communications Officer for the UN's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Ariane worked for international organizations, as well as Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Geneva, Brussels, New York, as well as Bangladesh and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In her work, Ariane focuses particularly on advocating for the protection of vulnerable people, including persons with disabilities and children. Passionate of all forms of art, she often uses creative medium to deliver messages.
Ariane holds a Bachelor in Law, as well as a Master in European and International Law, and a Master in Human Rights.
Hrag Vartanian is editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic, which he co-founded with his partner, Veken Gueyikian. In 2024, he was a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at Yale University and was awarded a Susan C. Larsen Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts Writing by the Rabkin Foundation. Photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki for Rabkin Foundation
This expert panel discussion, hosted at C24 Gallery, explored how acts of violence are woven into the fabric of modern culture and particularly how it impacts children and animals. With a focus on the works of Berlin-based crochet artist Patricia Waller, the conversation shed light on the use of unconventional methods to address inconvenient, difficult topics such as violence, as well as the role of art as an instrument for political awareness. The artist was joined by Hrag Vartanian (Editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic), Ariane Lignier, (Communications Officer for the UN's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict), and Sharon Louden (Advocate, community builder and Executive Director of Women's Studio Workshop).
About the Exhibition:
Child’s Play is the first solo exhibition by Berlin-based artist Patricia Waller at C24 Gallery. The show displays the myriad ways that Waller explores how violence is woven into the fabric of modern culture, particularly as it impacts children and animals. Her crocheted figures combine elements of cartoon-like innocence with sinister undertones and graphic depictions of both accidental and purposeful injury. The juxtaposition of these contrasting elements conjures both humor and horror, awakening the senses of viewers to profound effect.
Waller's ambiguous works raise uncomfortable questions about how we deal with the various forms of violence in our society: the violence to which we are exposed, which we perpetrate ourselves and which we consume with relish. In so doing, she encourages us to reconsider how we deal with our fears and our ability to address or repress them.
Banner and Event Photos: Adrián Fernández Milanés/Courtsey of C24 Gallery, and Katja Wiesbrock Donovan/1014.
Biographies
Berlin-based artist Patricia Waller is well known for her colorful crocheted works that deliver serious messages about violence and abuse via a medium that is more commonly associated with comfort. Chilean-born Waller has made a decades-long career of responding to the growing acceptance of violence in the world as well as satirizing and playing with cultural mythologies and norms.
Patricia Waller has been widely exhibited throughout Germany and also in China, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and more recently at C24 Gallery in last year’s group exhibition, Conflicted. She is represented in the United States by C24 Gallery, and in Europe by Galerie Deschler, Berlin.
Sharon Louden wears many interchangeable hats including artist, educator, advocate for artists, consultant, community builder, editor of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, and Executive Director of Women’s Studio Workshop. Sharon graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University School of Art. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Drawing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Weisman Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, and others.
Sharon is currently a faculty member in the MFA Fine Arts program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In addition to teaching, she continues to conduct grassroots Glowtown workshops in schools and not-for-profit organizations across the country and she is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Sustained Creativity. Her new upcoming book, Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Lifeover 50, will be published in early 2025.
With over 10 years of experience in international advocacy, communication, and humanitarian work, Ariane Lignier serves as the Communications Officer for the UN's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Ariane worked for international organizations, as well as Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Geneva, Brussels, New York, as well as Bangladesh and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In her work, Ariane focuses particularly on advocating for the protection of vulnerable people, including persons with disabilities and children. Passionate of all forms of art, she often uses creative medium to deliver messages.
Ariane holds a Bachelor in Law, as well as a Master in European and International Law, and a Master in Human Rights.
Hrag Vartanian is editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic, which he co-founded with his partner, Veken Gueyikian. In 2024, he was a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at Yale University and was awarded a Susan C. Larsen Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts Writing by the Rabkin Foundation. Photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki for Rabkin Foundation
This expert panel discussion, hosted at C24 Gallery, explored how acts of violence are woven into the fabric of modern culture and particularly how it impacts children and animals. With a focus on the works of Berlin-based crochet artist Patricia Waller, the conversation shed light on the use of unconventional methods to address inconvenient, difficult topics such as violence, as well as the role of art as an instrument for political awareness. The artist was joined by Hrag Vartanian (Editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic), Ariane Lignier, (Communications Officer for the UN's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict), and Sharon Louden (Advocate, community builder and Executive Director of Women's Studio Workshop).
About the Exhibition:
Child’s Play is the first solo exhibition by Berlin-based artist Patricia Waller at C24 Gallery. The show displays the myriad ways that Waller explores how violence is woven into the fabric of modern culture, particularly as it impacts children and animals. Her crocheted figures combine elements of cartoon-like innocence with sinister undertones and graphic depictions of both accidental and purposeful injury. The juxtaposition of these contrasting elements conjures both humor and horror, awakening the senses of viewers to profound effect.
Waller's ambiguous works raise uncomfortable questions about how we deal with the various forms of violence in our society: the violence to which we are exposed, which we perpetrate ourselves and which we consume with relish. In so doing, she encourages us to reconsider how we deal with our fears and our ability to address or repress them.
Banner and Event Photos: Adrián Fernández Milanés/Courtsey of C24 Gallery, and Katja Wiesbrock Donovan/1014.
Biographies
Berlin-based artist Patricia Waller is well known for her colorful crocheted works that deliver serious messages about violence and abuse via a medium that is more commonly associated with comfort. Chilean-born Waller has made a decades-long career of responding to the growing acceptance of violence in the world as well as satirizing and playing with cultural mythologies and norms.
Patricia Waller has been widely exhibited throughout Germany and also in China, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and more recently at C24 Gallery in last year’s group exhibition, Conflicted. She is represented in the United States by C24 Gallery, and in Europe by Galerie Deschler, Berlin.
Sharon Louden wears many interchangeable hats including artist, educator, advocate for artists, consultant, community builder, editor of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, and Executive Director of Women’s Studio Workshop. Sharon graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University School of Art. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Drawing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Weisman Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, and others.
Sharon is currently a faculty member in the MFA Fine Arts program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In addition to teaching, she continues to conduct grassroots Glowtown workshops in schools and not-for-profit organizations across the country and she is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Sustained Creativity. Her new upcoming book, Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Lifeover 50, will be published in early 2025.
With over 10 years of experience in international advocacy, communication, and humanitarian work, Ariane Lignier serves as the Communications Officer for the UN's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Ariane worked for international organizations, as well as Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Geneva, Brussels, New York, as well as Bangladesh and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In her work, Ariane focuses particularly on advocating for the protection of vulnerable people, including persons with disabilities and children. Passionate of all forms of art, she often uses creative medium to deliver messages.
Ariane holds a Bachelor in Law, as well as a Master in European and International Law, and a Master in Human Rights.
Hrag Vartanian is editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic, which he co-founded with his partner, Veken Gueyikian. In 2024, he was a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at Yale University and was awarded a Susan C. Larsen Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts Writing by the Rabkin Foundation. Photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki for Rabkin Foundation
Session Recording
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