High Energy Constructs is pleased to present INTERNAL MECHANISMS - a group exhibition of contemporary artists from Los Angeles; New Haven, Connecticut; Amsterdam; and Chang Mai, Thailand. Guest curator, Joseph Imhauser, brings together nine artists working in a variety of media, whose works offer a discerning awareness of how we view and shape the world(s) around us.

INTERNAL MECHANISMS is proud to be the first US exhibit for artist Semâ Bekirovic, and the US premiere of “Taste of Noodles” (2006), a video documentary by Sutthirat Supaparinya.

About the artists:

Semâ Bekirovic is an artist working primarily in photography and video. Bekirovic has studied at BDK, Berlin and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. She has attended the Rijksakademie residency, Amsterdam (2005-2006) and Lijiang Studio residency, China (2006). She has shown in numerous museum, art spaces, and galleries in China and throughout Europe. Internal Mechanisms is her first US exhibition. Bekirovic lives and work in Amsterdam.

Laura Forman has shown throughout Southern California and in New York. In 2005, she was awarded the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Timothy Wride Award. She has studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, Santa Monica College, and is a recent graduate of the California Institute of the Arts. Forman lives and works in Los Angeles.

Emilie Halpern’s work has been included in exhibitions at Casey Kaplan, New York; ACME, Los Angeles; The Breeder, Athens; and Kunstraum Innsbruck. She received her MFA from Art Center College of Design in 2002 and her BA from University of California, Los Angeles in 1998. Halpern recently completed a solo project at The Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, 2007 and will have a solo exhibition at Medium Gallery, St. Barthes later this year. Halpern is represented by Anna Helwing Gallery, Los Angeles, where she has had solo shows in 2004 and 2006.

Jason Starr has shown in Austin, Berlin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Malmo, Sweden. He received his MFA from University of Southern California in 2007 and his BFA from California Institute of the Arts in 2005. Justin Hansch has shown in Austin, Berlin, Chicago, Copenhagen, London, and Los Angeles. He is founder of Justin’s Museum of Contemporary Art and has studied at Mountain School of Art, Los Angeles and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2008, Hansch will be included in a group exhibit at Yalu River Art Museum, Dandong City, China.

Dhavid Streicher is a visual artist and electronic composer. He has shown throughout Southern California as well as in New Haven, Chicago, and Cambridge, United Kingdom. He has organized sound art happenings in Chicago, and his composition, Raushgebet (2005) was released through the label (12/24) MHz. Streicher is currently completing an MFA in Sculpture at Yale University and received his BFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2006. Streicher lives and works in New Haven.

Sutthirat Supaparinya is an educator, artist, and filmmaker working primarily in multi-media installation and video documentary. Her work has been shown in Germany and throughout Asia. She is currently teaching a guest lecturer at Payap University and Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Graduate School of Media and Communication Technology. Supaparinya lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Kaari Upson has exhibited her work in New York and Los Angeles. She has studied at the New York Studio School and at the California Institute of the Arts, where she received her BFA in 2004, and MFA in 2007. Upson was most recently awarded her first solo exhibition via an upcoming Hammer Projects at the UCLA Hammer Museum. Upson currently lives and works in Los Angeles and New York.

Louisa Van Leer’s multi-discipline practice includes sculpture, photography, installation, public art, and architecture. She received her MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 2006, her BFA and BA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1991, and was awarded her California architecture license in 2001. She is a 2006 recipient of a Skowhegan Fellowship in Painting and Sculpture. Van Leer lives and works in Los Angeles.

About the curator:

Joseph Imhauser is an artist whose works have been shown in Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, Orlando, Florida, and throughout Missouri. He received a BFA from CalArts in 2005 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. INTERNAL MECHANISMS is his first curatorial project.