Family Shows: Rachel Kaye & Jay Nelson

Blunk Space is pleased to present Family Shows: Rachel Kaye and Jay Nelson, the first in a series of exhibitions at Blunk Space that presents artwork made by all the members of one family. The concept is inspired by the family shows that JB Blunk organized at his home in the 1980s. For several weeks each spring, Blunk’s family would open the home to their community and present weavings made by his wife Christine Nielson, sculptures and paintings made by his sons, Bruno and Rufus Blunk, drawings by his daughter Mariah Nielson, and his own ceramics, sculptures, and paintings. During these shows, the Blunk House and studio transformed into a gallery. Now staged at Blunk Space, the first exhibition in this series presents work by San Francisco-based artists Rachel Kaye and Jay Nelson, and their daughters, Romy (9) and Zinnia (6).

In 2010, Rachel and Jay spent two months living and working in the Blunk House, JB Blunk’s home and studio in Inverness, as part of the JB Blunk Residency program. The holistic integration of JB’s artwork and his home had a major impact on both Rachel’s and Jay’s practices and their lifestyle. Following the residency, the couple worked together to completely transform and customize their Victorian home in the Sunset District of San Francisco; Jay has reworked every detail, from the doorknobs to furniture. The couple recently converted a large industrial space just around the corner into a creative workspace for themselves and their daughters. Having children also infused their creative processes and the renovation of their home with new considerations, restrictions, and inspirations. Like the Blunk House, spaces for living can also be spaces of creation, and creative time and family time can be interwoven.

Many of Rachel’s paintings and drawings hinge on a symmetrical, mandala-like central shape, recalling Blunk’s process of repeating archetypal forms. Interplaying translucent pastels and vibrant colors press the shapes into dimensional background and foreground, creating layered spaces that are somehow familiar. In Jay’s paintings, the insistent, playful lines create suggest architectural details and or hint at a geometrical pattern. Three perfectly spherical redwood balls, each with their own surface treatment, rest on smooth wood cushions and nod to a river stone JB found and displayed as a sculpture outside his studio. Using salvaged redwood, Jay designed a display structure for his paintings and sculptures. Romy and Zinnia’s drawings and paintings depict both familiar and fantastical versions of domestic life and a new collection of pompom necklaces complement the colors of Rachel and Jay’s paintings. As with the Blunk family shows, the works are made separately by each family member; their collaboration exists as a result of living and exhibiting together.