Yvette Kaiser-Smith: Review

Chicago Tribune, Friday, April 11, 2008

Yvette Kaiser-Smith's wall sculptures at Alfedena Gallery are guided by mathematics to combine abstract forms in crocheted fiberglass with what the artist calls "narratives of identity." Each large piece proceeds from a small cell the artist repeats, varies in color and sometimes shape, and assembles in either the pattern of an hourglass or a grid.

The cell, or "digit," is lacelike, which suggests softness, and stiff, which allows it to take forms that project from the wall in varying degrees. Changes of color and relief add to the variations that have occurred in the digits' openwork. The structure derived from mathematics then imposes a larger order that unites the small variables in works seemingly intended to address viewers in public as opposed to intimate spaces.

But what are the "narratives of identity" the artist has said are crucial to the work's conceptual purpose? These appear simpler than one might think. Here the way Kaiser-Smith builds each piece, adding digit to digit, suggests the process of an individual becoming part of a community. However, lest that seem too simplistic, the math tones it up, particularly when it is derived from principles by such august figures as Blaise Pascal.

Identity Sequence e 4 2007, (full and detail view), crocheted fiberglass, polyester resin, 121 x 117 x 8 inches