At Grizzly Grizzly, three artists that participate as part of the Knight Arts grantee Community Supported Art (CSA) program are displaying art created for the project, as well as additional work that demonstrates their diverse styles of making. Sarah Kate Burgess, Brian Giniewski and Linda Yun are currently displaying their creations at the space for the month of December.

A closeup of some of Sarah Kate Burgess’s rings.

Burgess assembles tiny sculptures which, although intriguing in their own right, also double as wearable art or jewelry. One area of the wall in the gallery is bristling with tiny three-dimensional objects attached with thin metal bars which allow them to practically hover for maximum visibility. All of these objects are constructed from cut paper but their detail and unique forms change the material in a way that greatly obscures its origin. Think wearing paper rings would be a faux pas? Burgess makes you think again.

Two of the rings which are available for CSA shareholders hang from the wall alongside detailed instructions for making them at home. The papers picture patterns (which have already been snipped out of place) and diagrams explaining exactly how to warp a flat sheet of pressed pulp into something of beauty, depth and fashion.

The print displaying Brian Giniewski’s bright, rocky weights.

On the far back wall hangs a large, bright print with a shelf on each side. This section belongs to Giniewski who decided to rework the idea of the paperweight. Perpetual jokes as far as small sculptural objects go, paperweights generally get written off as useless or ugly: “What do you want me to do with this? Use it as a paperweight?” Here, Giniewski approaches them as true underdog art and attempts to improve their reputation. The large print shows two brightly-painted rocks, one lying atop the other. Each shelf also holds one of these little objects, and beneath it, a series of unique paper prints which the paperweights weigh down upon. In this way, the weight and the paper are transformed from mundane desk accessory to colorful fine art in one fell swoop.

One of Brian Giniewski’s paperweights and its unique paper prints.

Linda Yun includes a number of prints including two side-by-side text pieces. One is a poem by T.S. Eliot and the other is a short article or story which apparently made its way from the New York Times blog. Both prints end with the now ubiquitous comment section, trackback, date and links which would be rather useful… if not for the fact that these posts are physically hanging from a wall. Elsewhere, Yun hangs a tiny gold-colored form that is apparently a mold of a crack in her studio wall. This knick apparently resonated with her and now she shares this corner of existence with Grizzly Grizzly visitors and members of CSA alike via shiny reproduction.

A crack from Linda Yun’s studio makes a shiny new appearance in the gallery.

Although the show at Grizzly Grizzly ends soon, the Community Supported Art program is still going strong. Be sure to visit the CSA website and see what the artists have in store for 2013.

Grizzly Grizzly is located at 319 N. 11th Street on the 2nd floor, Philadelphia; [email protected]; grizzlygrizzly.com.