Upon researching Dublin artist Mark Garry for this article, I was comforted to find that I am not the only individual who had a difficult time defining his work. The artist uses his gentle and delicate sculptures skillfully placed around Detroit’s Cave gallery to make viewers consider how to navigate the space. The added sound collaboration with Irish musician/composer Sean Carpio encourages us to quietly be present in the moment, evoking an innate beauty that can only be fully understood in its presence. This show, titled “Making and Meaning,” highlights the differences between the artist’s practice and the way it is perceived by the viewer. He leaves the work very open ended and explains in a video interview for a show in 2008 at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, “I try to leave enough space conceptually within it that you can start to build your own story.” Thread is a common element in the works. In the same video Garry comments, “I use thread because I feel we have sort of an innate relationship with certain materials. Thread is an interesting thing, it is one of the first materials that we encounter … we are very familiar with it, so we don’t deconstruct it in the same way [as] other cultural models, like painting or sculpture.” The thread pieces wrap and break up the space, leaving audience members carefully ducking around several threads swinging around the end of a ceiling fan blade. On another wall, brilliant crimson thread twists around a corner creating new geometric shapes with light. Garry also takes lighting into consideration and uses it to highlight the subtleties of his work. Overall, the quiet and thoughtful transformation of the Cave gallery lends a nice contrast to the chaotic behemoth of the Russell Industrial Center.

Cave is a collaborative artist workspace and gallery at the Russell Industrial Center. Hours of operation are by appointment only.

Garry’s “Making and Meaning” will run from Aug. 13 through Sept. 3. (There is a closing reception from 7 to 10 p.m. on Sept. 3.)

This project is supported by Culture Ireland.