Chrysalis (Generativity)

Chrysalis (Generativity) (the performance). On March 4, 2023, choreographer and performer Laura Cannon and creative coder and installation artist Fernanda D’Agostino joined forces to bring to life the projection sculptures of Chrysalis (Generativity). Channeling the slow motion and alchemical transformations of the natural world, Cannon inhabited the work as an animating presence. Video by Eric Mellencamp.

Oregon Contemporary presents Chrysalis (Generativity), a solo exhibition by Fernanda D’Agostino. The exhibition is part of Site, a series of site-specific large-scale solo exhibitions by artists of the Pacific Northwest. Originally a replacement series of exhibitions for the biennial during the pandemic, Site was created to utilize Oregon Contemporary’s strength as a large-scale venue and give artists an opportunity for a solo exhibition and the ability to make new work as they expand and grow their creative practices. The success of the program which included Natalie Ball (in collaboration with Annelia Hillman pue‑leek‑la’), Rick Silva, and Willie Little, has led to us establishing Site as our third core ongoing program in addition to the Biennial and Curator in Residence programs.

Chrysalis is an installation of a series of projection sculptures based on the beautiful nests of tent caterpillars. The sculptures are constructed of branches and agricultural netting. Video imagery using creative code to manipulate footage of movement artists, as well as scientific imagery, will draw from the replicating forms of nature (Generativity) to illuminate the Chrysalises. D’Agostino will be using Isadora for the creative coding and MadMapper to projection map the video onto the Chrysalises' sculptural screens. Video projections mapped onto layered scrim in the sculptures will further multiply the imagery beyond the digital manipulations made possible by Isadora and MadMapper. Additional objects will compliment the video sculptures.

“One of my earliest memories is of holding a tent caterpillar in my hand at around age three and asking my mother if caterpillars have a soul. I was fascinated by their gorgeous nests and by the process of transformation unfolding inside them. Chrysalis is a deep dive into answering the broader question contained within my childhood sense of marvel, and an examination of the strange sacredness of living things. It also revels in how all things are intertwined and hopes to expose the idea of singularity as a paradox. Seventy years after that original question I'm also fascinated by the possibility of emerging from one state of being into another. Or of merging–if emerging is not what's next.” – Fernanda D’Agostino

With performances by:
Sophia Wright Emigh
Tahni Holt
Jaleesa Johnston
Lisa & JuJu Kusanagi
Lu Yim
Crystal Cortez

Sound by:
Ran Bagno
Crystal Cortez
Fernanda D'Agostino
Sophia Wright Emigh
Guillermo Gallindo
Karim Lakdart
Kevin McDonald

Bodies Choreography by:
Isabelle Choiniere

The Site program is supported by the Henry Lea Hillman, Jr. Foundation. Oregon Contemporary is supported by the James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund and the Oregon Community Foundation. Oregon Contemporary also receives support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts. Other businesses and individuals provide additional support.

Fernanda D’Agostino is a public art and new media installation artist based in Portland, OR. D’Agostino has exhibited nationally and internationally with video installation, large scale public art projects, and performance. Her work has been featured in numerous new media festivals, and exhibitions, and she strives to share what she has learned with others. In 2018 at the invitation of Curator Justin Hoover, she produced large scale outdoor projection mapping works in San Francisco for the Untitled Art Fair and in Hong Kong in conjunction with Art Basil Hong Kong . Her Borderline series of installations was exhibited in 2018-19 at 1A Space Hong Kong, Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Open Signal, and Portland Art Museum. (all Portland, OR.) Her work has most recently been featured as part of Venice VR Expanded-a division of the Venice Film Festival and Venice Biennale. Her work is in the collections of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, New York Public Library, and the Cyland Media Archive in St Petersburg, Russia. D’Agostino’s work has been recognized by the Flintridge Foundation, Bonnie Bronson Fellowship, Andy Warhol Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, 4Culture TechSpecific Award, Sacks Foundation of the University of Pennsylvania, Americans for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts and with the Oregon Arts Commission Artist Fellowship. D’Agostino is co-founder and co-director with Sarah Turner of Mobile Projection Unit and is a member of the IN/body performance collective in Portland, and Collective Action Studio, San Francisco. D’Agostino works between sculpture, installation, creative coding and video mapping on several programming platforms. The connecting thread in all her work is creating an immersive, interactive environment that places viewers within the work. Fernanda is currently completing work for the 2023 Environmental Biennale Lisbon, Portugal.