Deeper and Deeper: Devin Balara & Bobby Gonzalez

Devin Balara on her work in Deeper and Deeper:

The sculptures in Deeper and Deeper begin as line drawings bent from mild steel (made of iron and carbon and sometimes a little magnesium). The drawings depict table spaces, fossil collections, speculative terrain, and doodley margins. This new body of work has grown out of a year of teaching myself the basics of Geology through various means, most especially by collecting the rocks on Michigan’s lakeshore. This year especially, many of us asked for an amateur’s grasp on science. My own practice of self-teaching has morphed into a kind of character study of the one who learns and the objects, books, and rituals needed to perform the learning. If I get the tools, mark the pages of the books, label the findings, dress the part, approach the desk, draw the diagram, where does this character end and learning begin? 

Bobby Gonzales on his work in Deeper and Deeper:

“A young boy and his teetotaling grandfather venture to France where they encounter a beguiling Parisian lounge singer named Véronique in a cafe. After a brief conversation with the woman, the boy discovers a diamond stud at the foot of the table, fallen from the ear of Véronique in her haste to catch the tram. Grandfather, an honest man, decides the two must find Véronique and return her earring. All the better for the boy, feeling quite transformed after this first brush with glamour in its truest sense. The chanteuse proves to be as elusive as her fashions are odd. Just as the duo are about to give up their search they spot a playbill featuring Véronique’s image. As they reach the location of the cabaret, a fire brigade rushes past them on the crowded pedestrian thoroughfare. The boy and his grandfather follow the smell of smoke and a long water-hose through the crowd to find the theater overtaken by flames.”

Devin Balara is an artist currently working in Saugatuck, Michigan, on unceded Potawatomi land. She holds a BFA from the University of North Florida and an MFA in Sculpture from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. Recent honors include a residency at Stoveworks in Chattanooga, TN, fellowships to attend the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY and Vermont Studio Center, and exhibitions at The Comfort Station in Chicago, IL, Goldfinch Gallery in Chicago, IL, Alone Time Gallery in New Orleans, LA, Spring Break Art Fair in NYC, Ortega Y Gasset Projects in NYC, and Monaco Gallery in St. Louis. A career metal worker and shop technician, Devin works to build more inclusive metal spaces and invert the typical intimidations of shop environments.

Bobby Gonzales is a multidisciplinary artist based in Saugatuck, MI, on unceded Potawatomi land. Gonzales’ work has been exhibited and published by Wassaic Project, NY; Chicago Artists Coalition; Das Institut fur Alles Mogliche, Berlin; The Milwaukee Institute for Art and Design; Columbia University, NY; Zurcher Gallery, NY; and Vox Populi, Philadelphia. He received his BFA in painting from Tyler School of Art in 2006 and completed his MFA in photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016. He is currently the resident print and new media studio manager at Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist Residency.