The Fondation des États-Unis is pleased to present the exhibition Sonder by Hope Curran and Isabelle Hoonan, current artists-in-residence at the FEU. The exhibtion will take place from March 5 to 27, and will open on Wednesday, March 4 as part of Art-Hop-Polis.
“SONDER (noun) The profound feeling of realising everyone, including strangers passing by, has a life and story, which are constantly interconnecting, overlapping despite our awareness and consciousness. Living as Americans in Paris, Hope Curran and Isabelle Hoonan present a multimedia and interdisciplinary body of work to the Fondation des Etats Unis based on the poetic interconnectivity that accompanies life as artists in a globalising world. To sonder is to partake in the ongoing narrative of humanity. Their research of belonging, identity and home aims to create connections on personal, local and global levels. Through poetry, photography, participation, collage and a collaborative approach they transform the gallery space into a place of connection and discovery of the everyday poetic experience of life in Paris.” -Hope Curran & Isabelle Hoonan
About the Artists
Hope Curran “My name is Hope and my life is messy…. I want to learn the language of light, the DNA of heaven held in my heart– trying to find home amongst the many. Hope is defined as the feeling of expectation and the dream for something to happen. My name has inspired a lifelong creative search for joy, beauty, adventure, color, community, and connection. To hope is to not yet have, yet hold close. I’ve been in Paris for three years after graduating from UC Santa Barbara working alongside Transform and Agapé Arts and pursuing a Masters in Art at Pantheon-Sorbonne. A multidisciplinary approach allows me to work on the themes of memory, relational aesthetics and light through photography, poetry, performance and installation. These are my prayers and promises written in ink, portraits of light. Messy like me, full of mistakes and typos, caught in between heaven and home.”
Isabelle Hoonan Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest but currently residing in Paris, Isabelle is a writer who also identifies as a visual artist. Currently enrolled at Paris College of Art’s Transdisciplinary New Media Master’s program (and set to graduate in May), her focus is in writing but primarily storytelling in multidisciplinary forms. Identifying as a visual artist as well as a writer, she finds inspiration in poetry and visuals that inform the audience about her own inner discovery that they may relate to. Her work focuses primarily on essays, blogging, and journalism, yet Paris has brought her back to writing poetry and painting again while staying at FEU. Analyzing interpersonal and intrapersonal connection is the base of how she writes, influencing the questions she asks and the subjects she seeks to understand better through telling their story through her writing. Looking deeper at where people call home and the boundaries of their interior walls — how they explore, or wonder while sondering — is a driving inspiration in her multimedia writing.
Show Opening
Wednesday, March 4 from 7-8:30pm in presence of the artists as part of Art-Hop-Polis, art hopping at the Cité internationale. Find the program on Citéscope and follow the Facebook page for more information. Join the Facebook event page to receive a reminder!
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday from 10am to 12:30pm and 2:30pm to 5:30pm. Evenings or weekends by appointment only: communication@feusa.org