Praxis is pleased to present FutureNurture: Weaves and Touchmaps the solo exhibition by Darlene Charneco (b. 1971, NY, USA). A reception to celebrate the opening of the show will be held at our space at 501 W 20th Street, NY, NY 10011, on Thursday, September 13th, from 6 pm to 8 pm.

Darlene Charneco was born in 1971, in New York City, of parents from Mayaguez and Moca, Puerto Rico.

Inspired by vivid dreams and studies of symbiosis in nature, her works explore and navigate the layered spaces we live in, often presenting them as part of a growing organism. Developing her own tactile language, the artist creates three-dimensional, mixed-media ‘touchmaps’ to orient, sense, and express within a world that is continually shifting and changing through our expanded networks of communication.

In these ‘Weave’ works, positive wishes and visualizations for humanity are condensed to the hammering of each nail, and repeated many times, so that when sitting to work, the artist includes various concerns that have arisen throughout the creation of the piece.

It is the process of renewing hope, determination and optimism in the accumulation of  our collective small actions that the artist hopes we all can all relate to and be energized by.

“When I first began ‘Writing’ with nails in my artwork, I wanted to create a language that could be felt as well as seen. The labor-intensive process clicked strongly with me, inducing a near-meditative state. I now see the nails as  units of my intentions which shift in identity from language as we know it, into the weave of the physical world.”

-Darlene Charneco