Feeling isolated at home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, multi-media artist Kiera Faber began thinking of ways she could still work in collaboration with other artists.
“It was a combination of feeling trapped and scared, and a desire to reach out instead of staying insular and inside,” recalls Faber, a former instructor in the art department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University who was living in St. Joseph at the time.
“Reaching out for connection and community. That was something I felt like I needed to do, and something that would nurture me as an artist.”
That desire led her to contact Twin Cities-based artist Jes Reyes, whom she’d first gotten to know in 2017 when she won an award at the Altered Aesthetics Film Festival, an event Reyes founded.
She pitched an idea for an artistic conversation in which the two would collaborate – both online and through the mail – on various artworks ranging from drawings to fiber collages to videos.
“Jes works with a lot of different materials in her own practice and that was something that really spoke to me,” said Faber, who has since moved to Philadelphia. “She’s also really involved with a lot of different community organizing and people in general. She just felt like an approachable person for what, I thought, was kind of a crazy idea.
“I thought she’d maybe be receptive to at least hearing it, and if she said no, that was fine.”
But Reyes was excited by the pitch, and the pair embarked on what turned into a four-year project.
“I’m rooted in collaboration,” Reyes said. “A lot of my work is done with other artists, and I try to provide care to other artists. So I didn’t think it was crazy. I thought it was wonderful.”
Now the public will get a chance to see the results of their collaboration.
Their exhibition – entitled “Do Not Bend” – opens Tuesday (Oct. 22) and runs through Dec. 4 at the Alice R Roger and Target Galleries at Saint John’s University. It kicks off with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, including an artist talk at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and food and beverages will be provided.
In all, the exhibition includes 20 works on paper, 11 fiber collages, two videos, an artist book, as well as pieces Faber and Reyes created individually – drawing on inspiration from their collaboration.
“We only worked together in person once,” said Faber, whose husband was a professor in the psychology department at CSB and SJU for 15 years. “That was when Jes came to visit me in Philadelphia a couple of months ago. The rest of it was all through the U.S. postal service or digitally.”
“We initially each started a piece,” Reyes added. “That’s how we launched into it. We set parameters on size because we knew we needed to mail it safely back-and-forth, so we wanted to keep things smaller in that sense. Neither of us ever knew what it would look like after we each made our contributions.
“It was like getting a gift in the mail. Kiera contributed, and I couldn’t wait to see what she’d done.”
According to the description, the works on display “embrace vulnerability and trust whilst exploring implied narratives of loss, uncertainty and the complexities of the natural world. Their interdisciplinary artistic process delves into finding the self through translation and mitigating the blurred distinction between enmeshment and connectivity through discovery, surprise and curiosity.”
“I would hope the work gives someone who goes through our show a moment to pause and to reflect,” Reyes said.
“To consider the many ways we can connect with another person beyond words.”
