PHOSPHOR PROJECT SPACE

New Residencies is the inaugural exhibition at Phosphor Project Space, an exhibition venue that seeks to provide an accessible, inclusive platform for experimentation, engagement, and fellowship. This first show highlights the work of co-founders Nathan Byrne and Centa Schumacher, recent transplants from California’s Bay Area who are settling into their new home in Pittsburgh and discovering how their change in residence has affected their artistic practice. 

Nathan Byrne’s sculptural objects in New Residencies combines repurposed materials, a touch of sarcasm, and literary references (including Talk by Linda Rosenkrantz and the death of author Robert Walser) to create narratives that explore connection, persona, and the psyche. A thread of snow and blindness runs through many of the pieces which serves as a metaphor for making one’s way through the unknown and accepting that the path ahead cannot always be visible. 

Centa Schumacher's lens-based work allows itself to become a portal between everyday phenomena and the unseen world. Using a specialized hand-assembled lens, her work in New Residencies turns the interplay of light and melting snow into acts of transformation. The work in the show, including photographs on metal, projected video, and a large-scale print on fabric, each contain a different type of shimmering light that reaches for something more exalted than the reality from which it was derived.