This coming Thursday through Saturday (November 11-13), alumnus Max Kornfield (BFA 2020 VCS) will present the exhibition “For the Spiritual Traveler: Reflections of Faith” at their pop-up exhibition space The Goblin Haus (105 E 122nd St #2E New York, NY 10035) in Manhattan. The exhibition was curated by Kornfield with the assistance of Cruz Carbajal-Hercules, and includes works from VCS faculty members Leigh Behnke and Peter Hristoff; SVA alumni Stella Song (BFA 2020 VCS), Farwah Rizvi (BFA 2021 Fine Arts) and Srishti Dass; (BFA 2021 Honors) and artists Sylvie C, Kristel Carbajal and Saxton Lamoreaux.

Kornfield’s curatorial statement and images of a few of the works that will be on display immediately are below. For further details on the reception and a link to make an appointment to see the show, visit its Eventbrite page. A full catalogue of the exhibition is also available at this link.

Opening reception Thursday, November 11, 4-11pm at The Goblin Haus (105 East 122nd Street #2E, 10035)

Show continues Friday and Saturday, 12-8pm, by appointment through Eventbrite reservation, emailing max.kornfield@gmail.com or DM @limbics on instagram

Statement from the curator:

The second exhibition presented by the Goblin Haus features work created as a visual expression of the artists’ spirituality or reflection on their religious heritage.

It’s important that the viewer is aware that these works are not from a cohesive background, you will be bouncing between very different spiritual systems and cultural histories as you pass through the show. Geographically, from around the United States, as well as India, Pakistan and Turkey. Behind each piece are unseen roots of personal experience and cultural history, from established Christian and Islamic religious to alternative mystical and magical practices in the West and East.

Humor, awe and fear in the face of God, humanity, mortality, love, sacrifice, eternity,

Questioning what is deemed holy, recognizing the carnal and darkness in the divine and the divine in the carnal, the body, the world we can touch, the mysteries we exist with,

Spirit permeating the mundane, all the little things, moving through that as water,

Transcendence of human connection, experience, spirit,

Channeling through the unconscious, not automatic* but connecting the realms of conscious and unconscious, bringing spirit into matter through self, through the act of creation. Symbolism that, when manifested in art, causes ripples materially and, for some, magically,

Meditation on interconnection, the weaving and layering of shapes, threads, pigments. They come together, making a new and greater whole — microcosm of the macrocosm, the divine,

Active spiritual and political community being synonymous, fighting climate change, reflecting the terror and hopelessness felt in the face of a global threat as much as it participates in repairing the damage,

Questioning the contrast of East and West, asking the viewer to see the connections, a difference in beliefs and traditions but a shared childhood nostalgia,

Recognizing the differences, the limits of the surface and the exhibition, mapping connections for the viewer to follow,

I hope you can see the beauty in this as I do, I hope you enjoy the show.

— Max Kornfield

* “automatic drawing and painting”: a practice found is psychology, Spiritualism and art (most notably the Surrealist movement) in which the maker suppresses, often completely, their conscious control and decisions during the creative process. (source)(source)