Ilene Sunshine is a New York City-based artist who uses an array of eclectic materials— leaves, plastic bags, discarded toys, scavenged tree branches— to explore the interface of nature and culture. Ranging from large-scale site projects to intimate drawings, her work has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and internationally— and is in various collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), and Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center (NYC).  She has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Dieu Donné Papermill, The Constance Saltonstall Foundation, Ucross, and The MacDowell Colony, among other awards.

This exhibition at The Master Gallery, ifs and yets, includes seven works on paper from my New Vein series installed in a structure made of tree branches gathered in Riverside Park. Expanding upon my long-held interest in the blurred boundary between nature and culture, this project takes its cues from The Master’s architectural details and the building’s proximity to the park. The title, ifs and yets, might be nonsensical at first reading, but I hope it conveys a transitional, liminal state where transformation and transmutation take place. Our ears are more familiar with the phrase “no ifs, ands, or buts” used to imply absolute resolve, but I’m interested in considering a wider, more open arena of ‘ifs and yets’ — a place of unexpected occurrences and invention.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Ilene Sunshine