Artist Sheree Hovsepian on Her Solo Show 'Figure Ground'

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It – Artist Sheree Hovsepian on Her Solo Show 'Figure Ground'

Podcast Information:

• Title: All Of It
• Host: Alison Stewart
• Guest: Sheree Hovsepian
• Episode Title: Artist Sheree Hovsepian on Her Solo Show 'Figure Ground'
• Release Date: May 12, 2025
• Description: ALL OF IT is a show about culture and its consumers, aiming to engage thinkers, doers, makers, and creators about the what and why of their work.

---

Introduction to Sheree Hovsepian and 'Figure Ground'

Timestamp: [00:28]

Alison Stewart introduces Sheree Hovsepian, an Iranian-born artist from Ohio, known for exploring the complexities of identity, memory, and the female body through various mediums such as photography, sculpture, and textiles. Hovsepian's latest solo exhibition, 'Figure Ground', is showcased at Huffner and Wie Gallery and represents a new phase in her artistic journey. The exhibition features figures, bronze sculptures, large-scale drawings, and experiments with different materials, coinciding with the release of her first monograph titled "Just My Name, Sheree Hovsepian", set for publication on May 20th.

Quote:

"Figure Ground" references a concept present in both sex psychology and visual art. You can't tell which one is what—the image, two things put next to each other. – Sheree Hovsepian [01:22]

---

Conceptual Framework of 'Figure Ground'

Timestamp: [01:21 - 02:23]

Hovsepian explains that 'Figure Ground' draws from the psychological concept where the brain distinguishes a figure from its background—a primal trait essential for survival. Additionally, as an immigrant, she relates the concept to her personal quest to find her place and establish roots in a new environment, making the show's title multifaceted.

Quote:

"The brain tries to distinguish a figure from the background. And this is a trait that comes from a primal sort of trait where humans had to figure out what was prey, what was dangerous in the field." – Sheree Hovsepian [01:33]

---

Artistic Exploration of Perception and Transference

Timestamp: [02:34 - 03:23]

Hovsepian delves into how art viewing serves as a space for transference, akin to the Freudian concept in therapy. She believes art facilitates the exploration of unconscious and abstract ideas, allowing viewers to engage deeply with her work.

Quote:

"Art viewing can be a place of transference... where the viewer can explore ideas of the unconscious and abstract ideas that are mediated through the artwork." – Sheree Hovsepian [02:34]

---

Continuation and Evolution of Artistic Practice

Timestamp: [03:31 - 04:12]

Discussing her ongoing collaboration with Huffner and Lou Hufner, Hovsepian views her work as a continuous evolution. Her previous exhibition featured smaller sculptures, whereas 'Figure Ground' presents larger pieces intended to dominate and interact dynamically within the gallery space.

Quote:

"When I'm thinking about new projects, it's often my previous work that feeds into the new project or idea." – Sheree Hovsepian [03:38]

---

Sculptural Work and Spatial Interaction

Timestamp: [04:16 - 05:39]

Hovsepian describes her bronze sculptures as deliberately large to create a commanding presence within the gallery. The placement is intuitive, aiming to give the figures a sense of movement and allowing viewers to experience them from multiple angles.

Quote:

"I wanted the figures... to look like they were sort of dancing within the space." – Sheree Hovsepian [04:22]

---

Large-Scale Drawings and Creative Process

Timestamp: [06:48 - 10:12]

The conversation shifts to Hovsepian's large drawings, created by manipulating ink on paper to capture the interplay of control and chaos. She employs a rule that any ink spilling off the page renders the work invalid, highlighting her disciplined approach despite embracing unpredictability.

Quote:

"I make rules for myself. If the ink runs off the page, then the painting is... garbage." – Sheree Hovsepian [06:53]

---

Photography and Fragmented Human Forms

Timestamp: [08:24 - 10:37]

Hovsepian discusses her photographic series featuring her sister as a model. The photographs emphasize fragments of the human body interacting with large foam core shapes, symbolizing vulnerability and tactile experiences. The use of white foam disrupts the visual plane, adding a layer of abstraction and fragmentation.

Quote:

"It's about interacting with these shapes and making an interesting image that is evocative and provocative." – Sheree Hovsepian [09:15]

---

Assemblages and Mixed Media in Collage Series

Timestamp: [12:18 - 13:54]

Hovsepian elaborates on her collage works, which incorporate various materials from her personal "toolbox," including fabric, paint, yarn, and string. These assemblages carry personal significance, referencing her mother's history with string art and her own meditative creative process.

Quote:

"The string was something that I'd been using before. It has, for me, connotations of sort of hand work that I did with my mom when I was growing up." – Sheree Hovsepian [13:54]

---

Personal Background and Artistic Inspiration

Timestamp: [14:01 - 16:03]

Hovsepian shares her journey into art, initially pursuing art history before committing to studio work. Her immigrant experience, marked by her family's displacement due to the Iranian revolution, profoundly influences her artistry, instilling grit and a desire to establish her legacy.

Quote:

"My immigrant experience really informs my artistic practice... watching my mom obtain a PhD after going through, you know, a difficult time." – Sheree Hovsepian [14:52]

---

Collaboration and Support System

Timestamp: [16:03 - 17:02]

Hovsepian touches on her relationship with her husband, Rasheed Johnson, and her sister, who often models for her work. While they serve as her immediate support and feedback system, she maintains a clear boundary in incorporating them into her art.

Quote:

"We are each other's soundboards and first viewers. And I trust him and really revere his comments and his ideas." – Sheree Hovsepian [16:26]

---

Monograph and Reflection on Her Work

Timestamp: [17:04 - 18:35]

Discussing her upcoming monograph, Hovsepian reflects on her body of work and personal growth. Revisiting her art allows her to recognize her courage and the sacrifices made by her family, reinforcing the sincerity she aims to convey through her creations.

Quote:

"I learned that perhaps, maybe that is something that I could say about myself." – Sheree Hovsepian [17:56]

---

Closing Thoughts and Artistic Goals

Timestamp: [18:46 - 19:29]

Hovsepian expresses her desire for viewers to engage sincerely with her art, emphasizing authenticity over conveying a single, specific message. Her goal is for the audience to find genuine connection and belief in her work.

Quote:

"I just hope that they want to engage with it and that they find it to be sincere." – Sheree Hovsepian [18:46]

---

Conclusion

Timestamp: [19:16 - 19:38]

Alison Stewart wraps up the conversation, highlighting Hovsepian's achievements and upcoming projects, including the solo exhibition 'Figure Ground' and her monograph "Just My Name, Sheree Hovsepian." Hovsepian thanks Alison for the platform to share her work.

---

Note: For visual insights into Sheree Hovsepian's artwork featured in 'Figure Ground', listeners are encouraged to visit WNYC's Instagram page @allofitstories.

Transcript

[Progressive Insurance]

All of it is supported by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart, Iranian born Ohio race artist Sherry Havsepian. Havsepian, excuse me, is known for exploring the complexities of identity, memory and the female body through photography, sculpture, textiles and other found objects. Her new solo exhibition at Huffner and Wie Gallery is titled Figure Ground. It marks a new phase in her practice. The show figures, bronze sculptures, large scale drawings and more experimentation with materials. The show also coincides with the release of her first monograph, which is a collection that traces her evolution as an artist and will be celebrated with a book launch later this month at the gallery. Figure Ground is on display now through June 21st. The monograph will publish on Tuesday, May 20th. Joining us to talk about the show, her book and her practice is Sherry Hausepien. Sheri, thank you for being with us.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Thank you for having me.

[Alison Stewart]

So the new show Figure Ground references a concept present in both sex psychology and visual art. You can't tell which one is what is the image, two things put next to each other, right?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Well, the brain tries to distinguish a figure from the background. And this is a trait that was that comes from a primal sort of trait where humans had to figure out what was prey, what was dangerous in the field, as they were. And so it's. Yeah. And so that's where the title comes from. But it also has a different meaning because as an immigrant growing up, I think that I was always trying to figure out where is my ground where I can locate myself within a place like where can I plant my roots and have a legacy. And so the meaning of the show title is kind of twofold.

[Alison Stewart]

What did you want to explore about the relationship between what we think we see, what we hope we see, and what is there?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Well, I think that art is a art viewing can be a place of transference, kind of like or much in the same way that the Freudian concept of transference, where feelings from the patient could be transferred to the therapist. And I think that art provides a structure that provides the same sort of situation where the viewer can explore ideas of the unconscious and abstract ideas that are mediated through the artwork.

[Lou Hufner]

This is your second show with Huffner.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

And is it Lou Hufner? Lou Hufner. Lou. Sorry.

[Lou Hufner]

Thank you.

[Alison Stewart]

Your second show with Huffner and Lou.

[Lou Hufner]

How do you see this show as a continuation or even a departure from your previous work?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

I see it very much as a continuation. I see all of my work as a continuation. When I'm thinking about new projects, it's often my previous work that feeds into the new project or idea. And my previous show at the gallery had sculptures, although they were much smaller. And in this show, I wanted to make them larger to kind of like, take up more space and really root these sculptures into the ground of the gallery.

[Lou Hufner]

Yeah. Let's talk about these three sculptures. They're bronze. Yes.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Yes.

[Lou Hufner]

And first of all, the placement of them. How is that decided?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

It was pretty intuitive when I put. I had the wall works kind of placed first, and I wanted the figures, I. The sculptures to look like they were sort of dancing within the space. And I wanted there to be enough space where people could walk around them, because they really are different from each viewpoint. I was also really thinking about the sort of vantage and viewpoints of the different sight lines throughout the gallery where you would see a sculpture, what was behind it, how it would echo in the different mediums of the works that were hanging on the wall.

[Alison Stewart]

For anybody who wants to see some of the artwork, I took pictures when I went on Saturday. So they're not the best pictures, but they're really good pictures of the work. Go to our all of it stories. Llevit WNYC on Instagram. You can check out what we're talking about. My guest is Sherry Hovsipien. We are talking about her work Figure Ground, which is the Ufner and lou Gallery until June 21. In the Financial Times. In the Financial Times, in 2023, you mentioned that you were always very hyper aware of physicality and difference and how you moved through space. Tell us how the show reflects your evolving relationship with how you move through space.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Well, yeah, that. It stems from growing up as an immigrant in Ohio against a pretty homogenous background. I always felt different. I was very aware of my presence, my body, my difference, my physicality. And I think that that hyper awareness has distilled itself into my work, and I am looking to locate myself, to kind of give myself roots or a position in not only in a place, but now in the landscape and thinking about legacy and finding a space for myself.

[Alison Stewart]

It's kind of interesting with the sculptures because they do look like they're dancing. They do. Like, almost like they're about to pirouette in some way. But behind. So the three sculptures are there and one wall of photographs, interesting photographs, and then a wall of. What would you call them? Paintings? Etchings?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Drawings. I call them drawings, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Okay, so let's talk about the drawings, describe them for our listeners.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Yeah, so the drawings, I make them by. I make. They're on large pieces of paper that I roll out onto the floor and I place ink onto the paper and then I move around the paper. Sorry, I move around the paper and lifting the paper from different ends and causing the ink to run into different directions. This to me becomes, well, a few things. One, it is a sort of a recording of a performance of my performance of a trace within a certain amount of time and space. And the second is that it's also a mix of control and chaos. Like I can't control everything that happens within the page. And then I also make rules for myself. If the ink runs off the page, then the painting is. Or the drawing is garbage. So yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Oh, has that ever happened and you really thought it was going to be really good?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Yes, all the time. These drawings are actually really. Yes, that happens all the time.

[Alison Stewart]

Does it break your heart when it happens?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

It does, but I just get rid of it and I start again.

[Alison Stewart]

There's something to that. Yeah, there's something to that. About your practice that's about starting again when things don't go your way.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Exactly. There is and I see that in a few different ways that I work for. Sure.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk about the photography as well. Now your sister for. I know she was your model for a while. Is she still?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

She is still my model. I always use her. I use her because she is physically similar to me and she becomes a stand in and that way I can be behind the camera and in front of the camera, so to speak.

[Alison Stewart]

So when she's in front of the camera in this particular series at the Uffnerloo Gallery, she's standing behind large shapes.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

And they're almost semicircles or they're slightly off even sometimes. And you can see an arm, sometimes you see a shoulder blade, sometimes you see a piece of leg. How do you decide how much of the human body you're going to show in these photographs? Well, maybe that's not the point.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

It's really about, I guess with. It's not about. Yeah, it's not about deciding how much of the human body I'm going to show. It's about interacting with these shapes and making an interesting image that is evocative and provocative. But I Also wanted the figure and these shapes to take up a lot of the space within the picture frame. It's about, I guess, fragmenting the body and emphasizing tactility or vulnerability. Lived experience. That's what I'm thinking about when I'm making these works.

[Alison Stewart]

So how big the shapes are? Fairly huge.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

They're fairly big, yes.

[Alison Stewart]

What are they made of? I was curious.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Foam core.

[Ira Flatow]

Foam.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Foam core, yeah. So one of these materials that artists know about that perhaps normal, everyday people don't understand.

[Alison Stewart]

That's interesting.

[Lou Hufner]

Does it photograph differently?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Well, it's so white that it reflects light. And so in that way, it kind of disrupts the visual plane because it looks like it could be actually cut out or maybe put on with Photoshop or something because it's so different. It doesn't have any shadows or nuance in the whiteness at all.

[Alison Stewart]

The photographs are really intimate, but they're.

[Lou Hufner]

Also anonymous at the same time. Where do you find the balance when you're creating a piece between intimacy and anonymity?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

That's a good question. I think that what I'm thinking about in these works are I think that looking at artwork, it's. Is a bodily experience. And I kind of think of my work as a rebuttal to the Cartesian idea of, like, mind over body or thought over experience that dominates Western history and centers white male thought. And so I'm thinking about an embodied experience, sort of elevating the body in a way to show that the body can hold memory or has a transgressive experience and is vulnerable. Tactile.

[Lou Hufner]

Yeah. My guest is Cherie Hafsa. We're talking about Figure Ground. It's the Huffner and Louis Gallery until June 21. It's interesting because when you look at the photographs, summer photographs, but as you get closer, you realize there's so much going on. There's. There's yarn, there's little pieces of gold, circles around. I mean, it's like it's. All of a sudden, it looks like it's multimedia in a way. Talk to me a little bit about that. I just wanted to say, like, I was, like. I was just staring at it, like, oh, that's really interesting. She used that there. Oh, she used that there.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

I was interested in it. I call them assemblages. Those works are collage, and, yeah, they're a mix of different materials that I have sort of amassed into what I call my toolbox. There's fabric too? Yes. In some previous works, there were fabric. And in this body of work, in the collage series here in this show, it's the first time I'm using paint, actually, as the background on linen, which is fabric. And it's. The string was something that I'd been using before. It has, for me, connotations of sort of hand work that I did with my mom when I was growing up. But also at some point, my mom had a kind of a breakdown or something when I was very young, and she. In the hospital, they told the doctors had told her to take up string art, which, I don't know if you remember in the 70s, were like those little patterns that you would have and wind string around and make like ships or butterflies. And so I started, you know, working with a string with that sort of in mind. But also it was a. A tentative line. It was something that if I didn't like it, I could undo it. And it's. It's also very sort of meditative in the way that I put it on and put the pieces together.

[Lou Hufner]

When did you think to yourself, I'm going to pursue art as a career?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Well, I. I'd always been very interested in art. I was always good at it. Growing up, it was, of course, not my parents what they had envisioned for me, but I was very persistent. And when I started college, I actually started as an art history major, thinking that maybe this is the way that I should enter, thinking I could become a curator or writer or teacher. But I started taking more studio classes than art history classes. And I realized that that really was where my heart was, and so I pursued it.

[Alison Stewart]

Do you find that your Iranian heritage informs your artistic practice in any way?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

I think that my immigrant experience really informs my artistic practice. And the most, I think that, you know, coming from a family of parents who were really displaced, you know, my parents came to the US to go to school before the Iranian revolution and were, you know, due to the revolution, they, you know, stayed and we had a very, you know, it was a tough life. It was a tough immigrant life when I was growing up. And I think that that taught me. It gave me grit and tenacity. And I watched my mom, you know, obtain a PhD after going through, you know, a difficult time of, like, having to leave her family without anything. You know, they'd always thought that they were going to go back to Iran, but, you know, after the revolution, it was too dangerous, and they didn't go back.

[Alison Stewart]

Artist Cherie Hafsepian Plant is joining to discuss her new show at the Solo Sorry. Artist Sheree Hafsepian joins us to discuss her new solo show at Ufner and Louis, Figure Ground, and her forthcoming monograph, which is coming out May 20th. You and your husband, Rasheed Johnson, both have shows up. Now, do you appear in each other's work or is that separation of church and state?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

He, you know, I've been in a video of his before, and we are each other's, you know, soundboards and first viewers. And I trust him and really revere his comments and his ideas. But, yeah, I haven't used him in anything, but who knows in the future.

[Lou Hufner]

Your sister, though.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Yes, but my sister, yes.

[Lou Hufner]

You have this new monograph coming out. Tell us a little bit about was.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Really exciting for me. It's a book I put out with JRP Press, and it is an anthology, I guess, or an archive of my work thus far, which I think is really important. It was good timing to be able to solidify and sort of give myself like a cohesive background of everything pre this show. So I'm very happy with it, very proud of it and, yeah, looking forward to releasing it.

[Lou Hufner]

What did you learn about yourself after looking at all of this work and also reviewing this work and then also having to edit the work?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Let's see. Well, you know, someone described me recently as actually, it was my therapist, I'll tell you, that described me as being courageous. And I had never considered myself to be courageous. And I think that after seeing the the breadth of the work and seeing and really thinking about what I had to go through and what not only I went through, but what my family sacrificed to give me the opportunity to be able to do this work, I think that I learned that perhaps, maybe that is something that I could say about myself.

[Lou Hufner]

What is something you would like viewers or readers to understand about your art?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

I don't know that there is one specific thing that someone could understand. I just hope that they want to engage with it and that they find it to be sincere. To me, sincerity is the most important thing about looking at art, and I just want them to believe in it.

[Lou Hufner]

Okay. Now that I have my glasses on, I can read clearly.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest has been artist Sherry Hofsepian. She was joining us to discuss her new show, though exhibit at Uffner and Louis Gallery, Figure Ground and her forthcoming monograph out May 20th. What's it called?

[Sherry Hafsepian]

It's Just My Name, Sherry Hofepian. Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Sherry, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.

[Sherry Hafsepian]

Thank you for having me and for giving me this platform.

[Ira Flatow]

This is Ira Flato, host of Science Friday for over 30 years, the science Friday team has been reporting high quality science and technology news, making science fun for curious people by covering everything from the outer reaches of space to the rapidly changing world of AI to the tiniest microbes in our bodies. Audiences trust our show because they know we're driven by a mission to inform and serve listeners first and foremost with important news they won't get anywhere else. And our sponsors benefit from that halo effect. For more information on becoming a sponsor, visit sponsorship.wnyc.org.