“Phase Shift” Paper Sculpture Exhibit’s Closing Party (SF)

Phase Shift is inspired by zoetropes and phenakistoscopes, which are early animation devices that produce the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. Zai is drawn to these analog forms of creating the illusion of movement. In many of her pieces, she’ll create a series of paper structures in which each unit is slightly different from the last. Zai photographs them sequentially to create short, animated films. Her stop-motion films play with the contrast between the analog materials (paper, thread), and surrealist animation.

These variations can signify how identity is entirely situational, and change is our only constant. Divecha breaks these ideas down in a uniquely elegant way by taking the self out of it entirely and using minimalist geometric forms to illustrate how what we might see as static is actually changing incrementally over time. Folded white paper, light, and shadow are the only elements employed in creating these pieces, and the stop-motion recording allows us to see that incremental change happening before our eyes.

The body of work presented as a whole is meant to create a calming experience for the viewer by turning the volume down on sensory input with an all-white palette so the viewer can ruminate on the subtlety of change.

Other works in this collection employ a sense of tension in their compositions that imply movement or the prospect of it, like a stack of rice grains about to tumble. You might feel you need to hold your arms under the artwork to catch all the pieces that look like they could topple over.

Phase Shift will also include a site-specific installation filling the atrium of the gallery that explores polyhedral transformations. As viewers walk around the installation, they will see each subtle change in the shape of a form that eventually results in an entirely different form. Viewers will essentially get to walk through an enlarged version of one of Zai Divecha’s stop-motion videos.