Wait For Me Inside The Infinite 

Isaac Atkins 

June 4th - June 20th, 2021 @ New Systems Exhibitions. Portland, Maine 

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What if the human spirit could travel from this reality to another? What if infinite space transcends our human form, leaving only pure energy? What if inanimate objects possess an unseen form of consciousness and the reality you perceive is just a dream? 

 

Wait For Me Inside The Infinite presents a selection of figurative artwork by Isaac Atkins and his deceased mother and fellow artist, Kim Degen. Together, they explore personal narratives through symbolic imagery and fabricated characters. These fictional creatures meld animal and human traits, mirroring subjects from old-fashioned children's books. These anthropomorphic beings weave themselves into every piece and exist in many forms, including doll figurines, painting subjects, and muses for bazaar fashion pieces. 

 

Wait For Me Inside The Infinite is also inspired by old school paper dolls and their interchangeable paper wardrobes. Paper dolls represent transformation and celebrate glamour, nostalgia, and queerness. Atkins conveys his likeness for these paper playmates by visually re-inventing the body throughout this exhibition. The human form is without a settled home and presents itself as momentarily absent, augmented, and miniature. 

 

Lead artist Isaac Atkins alters and preserves the art his mother left behind to bring this exhibition to fruition. Through this collaboration, Atkins shares something uniquely earnest and private with the viewer. This exhibition aims to investigate the ephemerality of the human form, expresses the unexplainable, and bulldozes the foundation of “real life” through a spiritual association with another realm. 

At its core, Wait For Me Inside The Infinite is a tribute to childhood fantasies and the dearly departed, inviting the audience to feel reverence for the relics it shares.