January 24, 2017
By Michael C. Butz for Canvas
London-based artist Esther Teichmann brings a childhood spent in the swampy, cavernous Black Forest region of southwestern Germany to the gallery walls of Transformer Station for her show, “Heavy the Sea.” She also brings many of her family members as subjects, photographing them in those familiar surroundings.
But more importantly, Teichmann brings to the multimedia exhibition, on view at the Ohio City gallery through April 30, a skillful ability to draw in viewers through depictions of her subjects’ physical responses to moments of loss, longing and despair. In so doing, she adeptly navigates the blurry lines between autobiography and fiction, inviting onlookers to make connections.
“This is definitely a heavy show,” says Transformer Station gallery manager Caitie Moore, noting “Heavy the Sea,” the artist’s first U.S. solo show, came about in part due to San Francisco-based artist and photographer Todd Hido, a Kent native, who connected Teichmann with Transformer Station owners Fred and Laura Bidwell a few years ago.
