The Dennos Museum and the Tusen Takk Foundation are pleased to present Across Centuries and the Earth, an exhibition of work by Ahavani Mullen created during her spring 2022 residency at Tusen Takk. In large-scale paintings, Mullen explores the ways in which subtle, ephemeral vibrations can be given form on a canvas, using energetically-charged paint to create fields of color, light, and texture.
By directing selected audio into her raw materials, the artist captures the energetic imprint of specific sounds and texts, absorbing their vibration and distilling their qualities into the work. Mullen moves fluidly through this practice, alternating between passive and active roles. Removing herself from the process, she allows certain works to form organically by submerging them in outdoor pools of paint, charged with sound and exposed to the elements. As a vessel, the canvas collects pigments that settle like sediment over long periods. Nature’s forces—weather, gravity, and time—become the primary actors, and these canvases bear witness to their unique environments. Mullen’s paintings are imbued with the qualities of both the sounds’ vibrations and the elements present in their creation: air, water, and wind—the echoes of springtime in the forested dunes of Lake Michigan.
The inspiration for this project is grounded in both ancient and modern ways of knowing, across centuries and the earth. Mullen’s reverence for the Indian texts the Vedas and the Upanishads, two of humanity’s most ancient bodies of knowledge, lies at the heart of this project. In welcoming these sacred texts into the work, she connects more deeply to their wisdom, while honoring them as portals to a universal, aspiring consciousness. Modern investigations into water on a molecular level also inform this body of work. Dr. Masaru Emoto’s research in The Hidden Messages in Water finds that water is affected by and responds to consciousness, thoughts, and feelings—foundational revelations for the artist in selecting her materials and guiding her process.
Learn more about the artist’s process here on our News Blog →
Explore the works on view on the artist’s website here →
AUDIENCE NOTE
This exhibition includes sound elements best experienced with a smartphone and earphones.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Artist-led Tour, Wednesday, Feb 22 at 4pm: Please join the artist for an intimate walkthrough of the exhibition. Free; limited capacity.
ARTIST BIO
Ahavani Mullen is a visual artist whose paintings, sculptures and installations are engaged with consciousness and materiality. Her current work uses the energetic imprint of specific sounds to absorb and view vibration. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Tusen Takk Foundation, the Macedonia Institute, Vermont Studio Center and Hypatia Trust. Other honors include awards from James Rondeau, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, and grants from 3Arts, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Over the past 10 years she has presented in solo and group exhibitions at CIRCA Gallery, SHRINE Gallery NYC, Gallery 1871, Olivet Nazarene University, Northwestern University, Hyde Park Art Center, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, Freeport Art Museum, Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland. Her work has been featured in Newcity, YoungSpace, Lifted Lab, Create Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, Encaustic Arts Magazine, NBC 5 Chicago and New Art Examiner. Her work is held in numerous private and public collections. Born in Minneapolis, MN, she received a B.A. from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN in 1996. Ahavani lives and works in Chicago, IL. Her work can be viewed at: www.ahavani.com.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT SERIES
The Artist Spotlight series is a collaborative project between the Tusen Takk Foundation and the Dennos Museum Center to display recent work by Tusen Takk’s artists-in-residence. Past exhibitions include shows by Nishiki Sugawara-Beda and Jinwon Chang.
DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER
The Dennos Museum Center seeks to engage, enlighten and entertain its audiences through the collection of art, and the presentation of exhibitions and programs in the visual arts, sciences and performing arts. Opened in 1991, the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College is a premier cultural facility in northern Michigan offering a dynamic array of exhibitions and programs in the visual arts, sciences, and performing arts. The Museum includes temporary exhibition and permanent collection galleries, an elegant sculpture court, and a hands-on Discovery Gallery. The permanent collection features regional, national, and international art from the 19th-21st centuries. The Milliken Auditorium hosts events and concerts with performers from around the world. Visit the Museum Store for great shopping, including a fine selection of Inuit art for collectors.
In 2021, the Dennos joined a network of more than 200 other Smithsonian Affiliates in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Panama. Established in 1996, the affiliations program is designed to facilitate a two-way relationship among Smithsonian Affiliates and the Smithsonian to increase discovery and inspire lifelong learning in communities across America. Smithsonian Affiliates are collaborators on many of the Smithsonian’s strategic priorities, adding local content, context, and expertise to national initiatives to help tell a fuller story.
Support provided by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and National Endowment for the Arts.
Related Program: Artist-led Tour
Wednesday, Feb 22, 4pm
Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, MI
Featured Artist
Press
“Ahavani Mullen: Across Centuries and the Earth”
Art Spiel
March 10, 2023