Trace Out Art is pleased to announce Bi Coastal, a pop-up exhibition at 208 Bowery Street, NYC from September 7th to 13th. Bi Coastal is curated by Tracy Yuan, featuring abstract painter, Erin Hammond and fine art + fashion photographer, Isabella Bejarano. Opening reception is on Tuesday, September 7th 2021, 6-9pm. Prior and concurrently to the physical exhibition, Bi Coastal is also available via Online Viewing Room.

Bi Coastal, curated by NYC-based independent curator and advisor Tracy Yuan (@trace_out_art) consists of a selection of photographs and abstract paintings in addition to a special collaboration piece by both artists in the elongated gallery space. A private lounge in the back of the gallery projects a sensory experience of beach waves reinventing the tropical nature in which the artists are from.

Living and working on opposite coast lines—Hammond facing the Pacific Ocean and Bejarano, the Atlantic—each artist practices art in different disciplines. In some ways, they contradict because Hammond’s works feel as though there are no rules in the way she depicts her paintings, while Bejarano’s works follow more structure in how she presents her images. From the movement of lines in the paintings to the defined shapes in the photographs, the two artists are celebrating one another and making what seems to be two polar opposites to an absolute harmony.

Hammond engages the art historical genres of Abstract and Neo-Expressionism. She experiments in color and calligraphic scribble by focusing on the roughness of line and the immediate, unrehearsed processes of painting with whimsicality and spontaneity. “We are unfinished beings, always evolving and perpetually in the process of completion. Each piece a rigorous abstraction of shape and form overlapping with paint and pencil lines, overworking some areas and leaving other areas unfinished or obsolete”. Exploring the radical fascist fashion of idealized perfection in humanity and science, Hammond focuses on the inner versus outer experiences.

Bejarano, devoted to creating images with unique perspectives, abstract details, manipulation of technical rules, and experimental yet intentional lighting, approaches photography by resembling a series of documentations from her life and emotions through a timeless and refined sensibility. Distorted Red Woman conveys a personal story involving her experience with fashion in which Bejarano used motion blur and water to distort reality. “I wanted to create visual interest by presenting a new perspective on otherwise obvious/straightforward fashion imagery; it’s part of my process to drag my shutter even if the pictures are just outtakes for myself. I have a goal in mind but I’m not quite sure what it’ll look like until it’s happening and that’s very exciting and inspiring to me. It’s the spontaneity that draws me in, the breaking the rules part, embracing the unknown and trusting my instinct to create something entirely unique.”

Artist Bios

Erin Hammond @erinhammondart
Erin Hammond currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. She was born and raised in Southern Wisconsin, the oldest of seven children, a daughter to a musician and a writer/horticulturist. She grew up surrounded by cornfields and lakes which eventually led her to desire for city life in Los Angeles. Erin earned a B.A. in three majors at the University of Wisconsin in Painting, Sculpture, and Theatre. Hammond’s works are currently displayed in publications such as British Vogue and Vanity Fair and are also a part of major private collections globally.

Isabella Bejarano @Isabellabstudio
Born and raised in the warm and colorful Caribbean landscape of Venezuela, along with living in California for over a decade and a brief stint in London, Isabella Bejarano makes up a unique background of experiences which she infuses into her work. Her love for photography and fashion allows her to explore her creative voice and challenge the mainstream. Bejarano’s fashion and portraiture work has been featured in publications such as Elle Mexico, InStyle Mexico, The Impression, L’Officiel China, vogue.it, Communication Arts, and Greatest among others. She splits her time between NY/Miami and has strong ties to LA.