Until It Shatters

As an organization, Root Division is a creative launchpad for emerging artists in the Bay Area anchored through an interconnected program model of exchange. For 16 years, Root Division has provided studio spaces to over 200 Bay Area artists, 60% of whom identify as womxn. Building upon this support structure, Until It Shatters is an experiment in collective uplift and co-authored curation presented in partnership with the Feminist Art Coalition and organized by Samantha Reynolds. Until It Shatters is being created in collaboration with 15 past and present Root Division Studio Artists, each seeking to break the mold, create a new system, and disrupt current modes of working in order to explore alternative routes forward.

The title of this exhibition references Hillary Clinton’s presidential concession speech “Now, I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday, someone will…” Since its original inception, the curatorial model of Until It Shatters has adapted. What initially started with a standard curatorial model, has shifted to an artist-driven project based on the shared need for community.

To modify Clinton’s quote, the elusive ceilings will only shatter by a collective force through the elevation of diverse voices. The exhibition’s theme inherently calls for a collaborative, emergent model of working to highlight the intersectionality of the works, including themes of womanhood, environmentalism, the womxn body, motherhood, self care, and invisible labor, among others – all woven together and informing one another. Additionally, many of the works being exhibited are outside of the artist’s main body of work and/or have been developed throughout the last several months of quarantine.

The process leading up to the exhibition is a part of the show itself – creating a web of connections, a call and response between artists through shared agency and experiences. After participating in virtual group studio visits, each artist finalized the work they will be exhibiting based on the conversation and feedback. Artists then interviewed one another in pairs or small groups discussing what they are working on, how they support, are supported by other womxn, and what they are currently reanalyzing. Artist interviews will be published alongside the physical work itself, and available online. Until It Shatters results in a collection of work that is deeply personal, direct, visually varied, and stronger when presented together.

Register for our 2nd Saturday opening reception here.