Rough Play curatorial group was born out of a dialogue that began with a debate on the increasing demand in contemporary art for the artist to combine artistic practice with academic research. Kathrin Busch stated, “Art and theory, in effect, are nothing more than two different forms of practice interrelated through a system of interaction and transferences.” Challenging the artist to function in
this reciprocal practice enables a constant examination of one’s own work and the need for an exchange of ideas, perceptions, and results. Inevitably, this process lends itself to collaborative exploration. We began with the understanding that for us to have viable opportunities in today’s art world we needed to create a new path, one that leads us to pursue options outside of the traditional exhibition venue. In order to be effective in our pursuit we found ourselves embracing the role of curator, which in theory perhaps contained an inherent conflict with our artistic practice. This conversation led us to examine traditional curatorial practices. By approaching the process as a collaborative invitation we delve into a unique opportunity for creating new models and transformative exhibitions. Rough Play is made up of three women artists working in Los Angeles. Collectively, the members of this group –Ashley Hagen, Emily Sudd, and Elizabeth Tinglof—have been involved in a multitude of exhibitions in curatorial, administrative, and academic capacities, as well as participating as exhibiting artists. Previous curatorial projects include Hold at Far Bazaar, Cerritos College in January 2017, held in the ceramics studio this exhibition featured various artists examining the wide ranging associations to the word ‘vessel’. From a hand-held object of daily use to a ship transferring cargo across an ocean, the vessel serves to hold something transitory so that it might be digested or preserved, grounding the ephemeral to an earthly collection point. The human body, as mere empty flesh, can be seen as a vessel for the immaterial elements of humanity—the “soul”, “spirit”, or “consciousness”, Without Design or Sketch: The Story of The Room, an exhibition at LAUNCH L.A. in September, 2016, that approached the context of the Peacock Room as a platform from which to address a series of issues related to contemporary art practices such as the boundary between art space and living space, the perceptions of decorative and fine art, the value of art and patronage, and art’s engagement with social and moral issues versus its purely visual components; Go Big or Go Home, an exhibition organized for the Brand Library & Art Center in February, 2016, of artists that rise to the challenge by producing work through a physically demanding work process, extensive research, mastery of new disciplines, or by exposure to psychological or emotional vulnerability; Shelf Perception, an exhibition of work reconsidering the traditional art object by negotiating the spaces between painting, sculpture, photography, and domestic and architectural elements, organized by Elizabeth Tinglof for Santa Monica Cultural Affairs in 2014; and Triangulation, an exhibition curated by Elizabeth Tinglof for California State University, Northridge in 2011, featuring artists such as Michael C. McMillian, Jeffrey Vallance, and Lynn Aldrich.
