ANDREA GUSKIN: FRACTURE ZONES
April 25 – May 31, 2025
Artists’ Reception: Saturday, April 26, 3 – 5 pm
Artists’ Talk: Saturday, May 17, 3 -5 pm
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: May 2, 5 – 9 pm
Mercury 20 Gallery
475 25th Street, Oakland, CA 94612
Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)
Metal ridges, formed by the force of the body; fissures mended with needle and thread – these are the visceral, intimate topographies in Andrea Guskin’s new work.
Inspired by the geographical language and imagery of topographic maps — particularly the large scars forming “fracture zones” deep beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean — Guskin uses these scars and fissures as a metaphor for the layers of emotional experience related to ancestry, immigration, and lost family narratives. By focusing on her own ancestors’ journeys, the work reflects on the path that so many have taken to cross oceans on the way to new lands, the stories that are lost along the way, and what is unseen below the depths.
Applying paint with pieces of found textiles, Guskin uses her body to crunch, push, and smooth metal surfaces into place before ripping into the ridges and creating gaps. She then mends these fractures with needle and thread, creating emotional and bodily topographies — a space where, perhaps, some repair can take place.
Available Work
Andrea Guskin
Andrea Guskin is a San Francisco Bay Area based artist working across the disciplines of photography, sculpture, and painting. She began drawing by pillaging her father’s office supplies for fine-tipped pens and yellow legal pads, filling them with figures while lounging on a 1970s shag carpet in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After studying painting at Antioch College in Ohio, Guskin moved to New York City and became a part of the arts community on the Lower East Side. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2003, she has exhibited her work throughout the state, including at the Richmond Art Center, BerkeleyArt Center, and Red Poppy Art House. She graduated with an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Mills College at Northeastern University in April of 2023. Guskin lives in San Leandro with her husband and two sons.