Jessica Halonen
Sticky Ends
November 5 - 22, 2009
Opening Receptions on Thurs. November 5, 5-8pm and Friday, November 6, 6-9pm, After by Appointment
@
cactus bra SPACE
106 C Blue Star
San Antonio, TX 78204
210-226-6688
www.cactusbraspace.com  

The exhibition Rx Garden: Sticky Ends presents a series of sculptures that explore contemporary issues in pharmaceutical production. The term sticky ends refers to a practice known as gene splicing, which alters the DNA of an organism. This process is used to grow various plant, animal and human proteins in host crops, which is harvested and converted into drugs. The sculptures are constructed of multiple species of tree branches joined by synthetically colored resin; this combination of organic and inorganic materials references the gene splicing process. Their knot-like structures become playful interpretations of medical models (such as Crick and Watson’s Double Helix). The exhibition will also include several small-scale gouache on paper ‘drug portraits’ also from the Rx Garden body of work.

 A special thank you to the Artist Foundation of San Antonio and Artpace for their generous support in the creation of this body of work.

 Jessica Halonen received a MFA in Painting in 1999 from Washington University in Saint Louis and a BA from Kalamazoo College. Her work has been shown in numerous exhibitions, notably at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Park Project in Los Angeles, the University of Texas in Dallas and San Antonio, and the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art. Her work is in the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and The Museum of Southeast Texas. From 2000-2001, she was a Core Fellow at the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and was recently an artist in residence at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. Halonen is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History at Trinity University. She lives and works in both Austin and San Antonio.