ROUND ONE by Michael Muelhaupt and Rachael Starbuck

February 17, 2017 – March 31, 2017

For the projects’ first installment, ROUND ONE, artists Michael Muelhaupt and Rachael Starbuck addressed the cage as a metaphor for the porous body. Inspired by the permeability of the structure’s form, the artists employed specific materials such as translucent plastic, cast paint, and raw clay to soften the rigid structure of the cage, ultimately complicating the boundary between interior and exterior space.

Rachael Starbuck is an artist, educator and arts organizer born and raised in Miami, FL; currently living in Austin, TX. In her practice Starbuck navigates how we make and maintain connections––negotiating touch, desire, intimacy and communication across distance. She makes fluid fleeting objects that are sensitive to their environment and live in the space between distance and proximity.

Michael Jay Muelhaupt is an artist whose work has taken many forms, ranging from large installations, sculptural objects, video, and most recently functional furniture. His furniture is constructed from discrete parts: materials found on the curb, belts from his partner’s late father, craigslist purchases, his old clothes, pieces of other furniture, and various other objects.