Angela Yang

An artist’s hair sewn into fabric. A towering painting of a skeleton. An old-fashioned steamer trunk, balanced on a mannequin in place of a head, projecting vintage cartoon and movie clips onto a wall. Through these tableaus and others, artist and curator Angela Yang is beckoning us into the place we call “darkness” to consider its presence in our own lives — in memories, dreams, nature and everyday existence. Yang’s group exhibition, In the Dark, at Fort Lauderdale’s 1310 Gallery, explores what she identifies as “the many attributes associated with ‘darkness’ and how it shapes life in our world.”

This month’s PureHoney featured artist says the idea for In the Dark came to her “out of the dreams I’ve been having for about a year that have aspects of extreme darkness, but also light.” Yang recruited 23 of her peers to add variations on the theme, her criteria being “originality, imagination, and the cleverness used to convey their vision.” A survey of some of the contributors and their works, Yang’s included, offers a feel for how In the Dark approaches its forbidding-yet-fascinating subject.

Maricel Ruiz

— Maricel Ruiz of Port Saint Lucie is an art teacher and Miami-born Cuban-American working in different media: acrylic, pastel, watercolor, fiber and more: Strands of her own hair are hand-sewn into frayed textiles in word-art compositions that pose questions about race and identity. “Ruiz works with the theme of mixed races which appeals to me, given my origins,” says Yang, the daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and a Taiwanese father.

Niko Yulis

— Niko Yulis of Fort Lauderdale is an American multidisciplinary artist of Greek and Argentinian descent who teaches ceramics at Broward College. “His paintings and sculptures are always thought-provoking and whimsical,” says Yang. Yulis has multiple pieces in the show, from his striking skeleton painting to sculptures newly created for In the Dark. Yulis says of his varied output, “The effort is the string that connects my work, not a style, theme, nor medium.”

Diana Garcia

— Diana Garcia of Miami was born in Campeche, Mexico. Her charcoal drawings are based on photographers her parents took before she was born. Garcia says she asks herself, “How do we fit into a world of memories we weren’t part of and how do we emotionally develop our interpretations of these photographs?” Some of her images for In the Dark feature figures posing together with their faces blurred away. “Garcia’s charcoal works are my favorite series [of hers],” says Yang. “They are extremely dark and invoke a deep sense of longing and nostalgia.”

Pandora’s Box, Angela Yang

Yang’s own work could be described similarly, particularly her In the Dark installation, Pandora’s Box. A dark-robed mannequin stands draped in a Grecian-style robe, with that valise for a head emanating black-and-white cartoons interspersed with clips from strange silent-era films such as Metropolis, Faust and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The work references “the Greek myth of Pandora releasing chaos into the world,” says Yang.

“The foreboding black-and-white projections are mashed up with cartoons because some things such as death and illness hold so much sorrow and confusion that all you can do is laugh, or dissociate from it and become a viewer,” she says. “The video is a descent into madness that can no longer be hidden but is considered normal.” Yang’s mother passed away in 2020 and “because I was trying to be as stoic as possible, I never really allowed myself to grieve,” she says. “That delay has come full circle and I’m dealing with it now.”

Taken as a whole, she says, “In the Dark sheds light on the literal and figurative darkness we create, utilize, and exist within.” Yang’s personal listening likewise leans dark, towards Slowdive, PJ Harvey, Pulp and Nick Cave. Primarily an artist, Yang has also been on a curatorial tear, mounting several exhibitions this year. Her advice to young artists is to “make art for yourself, because you want to, and need to, and were born to. In the end, it is merely an expression that came from inside of you. Feel good because you expressed what was in your heart and mind and if other people get something from it, consider that a cherry on top.”

In the Dark, presented by Sailboat Bend Artists, is at 1310 Gallery in Fort Lauderdale. Opening reception 7pm Friday, October 25. Closing reception 6pm Friday, November 15. sailboatbendartists.com, blindaviator.com ~ Kelli Bodle