APPROACH OR ENTER

SHE THOUGHT CAREFULLY, WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE? SHE SAID HIS NAME AND WATCHED HIS EYES COME OPEN, “BY COMING IN HERE, YOU AGREE TO A CERTAIN BEHAVIOR.”

I SAT THERE FEELING GOOD, DRINKING THE HOT COFFEE; I FELT LIKE I COULD HANDLE ANYTHING. I STUCK OUT MY INDEX FINGER AND RAISED MY THUMB, HOLDING THE POSE FOR A MOMENT. SMILING.

AND I WONDERED IF I REALLY WANTED TO GO BACK TO BEING THE GIRL WHO LIVES IN THE TWO ROOMS THAT ARE SURROUNDED BY THE CITY.

CAPITAL presents an exhibition of new works by Davina Semo.

Semo’s work is charged, powerful, dynamic, controlling. Using materials composed by her surroundings, Semo works with concrete, glass, metals, plants, minerals, paint, scents, light, sensuality, aggression, skin. Semo is drawn to sculpture for its ability to blend against the ready-made world without apology, explanation, or utility. Her titles are appropriated, altered, and written from life, constructed in ALL CAPS, carefully transforming text into form. Viscerally and textually, her work is intuitive, coded, specific — trails of heavy, broken stories, critical and interpersonal — “How do I understand the limits of knowledge and ethics in global 2015?”

APPROACH OR ENTER is Semo’s first solo exhibition in California.