Making Eco-Spheres (Hikaru Dorodango) with Rena Detrixhe & Karen McCoy

In conjunction with its fall exhibition Material World, the Artspace is pleased to host Art + Practice : Making Eco-Spheres (Hikaru Dorodango) with Rena Detrixhe & Karen McCoy.

Dorodango (泥だんご, lit. "Mud dumpling") is a Japanese art form in which earth and water are molded to create a delicate shiny sphere, resembling a billiard ball. Participants in this workshop are invited to work with their hands to create a unique artistic object while contemplating our relationship with and stewardship of land, place, soil communities, and the greater ecosphere.

All materials will be provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own soil from their home, or other place of personal significance if they wish. The material should be completely dry; about 2 cups should be plenty. (Though not required, participants can also bring a small airtight container to store their dorodango while it rests, such as a yogurt container and a piece of cloth to rest it on and to use for polishing, cotton t-shirt material works well.)

Handling the earth in this way is a grounding exercise and experiential learning practice. The earthen spheres are made by gradual and careful handwork, demonstrating a focused, intentional, and gentle relationship with the earth.

Earth is a dynamic, creative planet composed of living and non-living parts, like water, air, soil, rock, plants, animals and other organisms. The workshop will invite viewers to embody this ecospheric perspective, recognizing we are entangled with, not separate from this intricately interdependent system. Using soil as a material and an entry point, the meditative (and fun) process of hand-making the eco-sphere provides space for reflection and dialogue.

RSVP: Space is limited, and on a first come, first serve basis, so reserve your spot through Eventbrite. Email [email protected], or call 816-802-3571 for directions and questions.

Programs may be subject to change. For the latest information, including other rsvp sign-up opportunities and workshop details and locations, contact the venue directly. Follow us on Instagram @artspace_kcai and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/artspacekcai, or visit www.kcai.edu/artspace, to receive the most up-to-date information about these programs.

LOCATION: Artspace, Kansas City Art Institute, 16 East 43rd Street, Kansas City, MO 64111.

About the Artists:

Rena Detrixhe grew up about 15 miles south of Russell, Kansas. She claims central Kansas with its endless horizons, thunderstorms, the crystal-clear Milky Way, buffalo grass, expansive cropland, and pockets of magical prairie as her home. She earned a BFA in Visual Art, Expanded Media, with a minor in Art History at the University of Kansas. While at KU, she took classes in history, literature, and archaeology and worked with science professors in addition to her studio and art history courses, so that when she developed projects, she could view them through multiple lenses. As an interdisciplinary artist, Rena’s large-scale objects and installations, ephemeral sculpture, performance, drawings, and process-based work explores systems of value and cultural relations to land and the more-than-human world with attention to histories of injustice. Her current research is focused on Midwestern agriculture as both an important cultural signifier, and a deeply troubled relationship to the land.

Karen McCoy is a visual artist whose work focuses on sculpture, environmental art, walking art, and land art. She resides in Kansas City, Missouri, where she is a professor emeritus in sculpture and social practice at the Kansas City Art Institute. She has also taught at Williams College, Colby Colleges, and the University of Minnesota-Morris.

McCoy's sculptural works are created out of a combination of artistic practice and environmental activism with focus on the ecological, geographical, cultural, and societal histories of the site at which the work is created. She uses reclaimed materials to create large-scale sculpture that address issues of global climate change, sustainability, and resource depletion. She has also created drawings made as a result of walking since 1987, and she frequently collaborates with composer Robert Carl, on an ongoing body of work that includes her ear horns and listening post sculptures.

Making Eco-Spheres (Hikaru Dorodango) with Rena Detrixhe & Karen McCoy is organized by the Artspace as part of Material World, on view, September 20 – November 9, 2024.

Images (from above): Dorodango | Eco-Spheres, 2019
, hand-shaped forms of earth gathered from Oklahoma and Kansas; Timepieces, 2019, hand-shaped forms of earth gathered from Oklahoma and Kansas
Hikaru ; Rena Detrixhe; Karen McCoy. Courtesy of the artists.

Host or Publisher H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City Art Institute