Rachelle Rojany's studio, located in LA's historic downtown, had the look of high activity common to those final days of preparing for an upcoming show.  Half assembled pieces, scale models, piles of reference materials, empty water bottles; these were the things I found strewn here and there.  Plying me with bits of fancy chocolate and lots of talk about the precarious state of the world, Rachelle walked me through her space, explaining the thought processes and technical challenges behind the work in her second solo at The Happy Lion in Chinatown.  Rojany's exhibit, Body of Work, will run from May 31 - July 5, 2008.  The opening is from 6-8 pm on Saturday, May 31.

What first caught my eye was a large, outstretched hand made from flag material.  It hung banner-like from a bronze hand-holder mounted on the wall.  Both the flag-hand and the holder-hand were modeled after Rojany's own.  This piece, Handy flag in Handy holder, will be installed outside the door of The Happy Lion, commingling with the Chinese lanterns that adorn Chung King Road.  Not only does this sculpture extend the exhibition into the public sphere, but it also beckons the casual passersby to leave their stroll and enter into the realm of Art.

The bulk of Rojany's work is based on the body, her body in fact, from her left foot up to her hand, ear, nose and eye.  The exhibit encompasses casts of various body parts, sound pieces, mirrored pieces, even taste and touch experiences - all of the senses are engaged.  Mixing metaphors and materials, Rojany presents a body of work filled with humor and playfulness - many of the pieces are actually designed to be toyed with.  Along with her prankster stance is a kind of smart-art commentary on the positing of seemingly banal objects within an art framework, e.g. benches as constructs, cookies as performance, rock stacks as discourse on the body. 

I was particularly engaged with Mileft, a pair of left-foot "booties" that Rojany modeled after her own left foot and had a special-effects fabricator make into a pair of shoes.  Not exactly Shrek, but certainly absurdly charming.  Another surprise was No Know, a replica of her own nose that can be twisted and turned by the viewer.

As we chatted about the work, I couldn't stop thinking about Bosch and Brueghel and their kind of nose-tweaking, ear pulling, eye gouging pageantry.  Perhaps it was the pomp of the hand-banner, or the circumstance of the nose sculpture, that led to these reminisces.  But whatever it was, the tragic-comic vision in Rojany's work seems to speak of the simple humanness of our experience - erring and forgiving as we go.

By the way - be sure to get to the opening in time for the lavender "mouth" cookies!

- Georgia Fee

(*Images top-bottom:  Rachell Rojany in her studio with Handy flag, Handy holder, Rocky Pedestal and Mileft, and No Know, 2008.  All images courtesy of ArtSlant.)