CHAMBER: Philip Hinge
I Mist
May 14 - June 29

“The sun-drenched world above is a memory I can barely recall. My existence has taken root here in the depths, in these subterranean chambers where time dissolves into the eternal. In this twilit labyrinth I reside with my feline companions, suspended in a frozen but ever-shifting tableau. The world above, with its relentless demands and transient aspirations, has become an illusion, fading like a mirage in the mist.

The cats, like liquid mercury, glide through the tunnels, their movements a perpetual play of shadow and light. We live in a symbiotic embrace, these creatures and I. They are the true masters of this underground realm, their sleek bodies mirroring the tidal currents of my thoughts. Our days form a seamless continuum, where the cycles of waking and dreaming blur into an indistinguishable haze. Around us, the ancient walls, adorned with their delicate webbing of cracks, capture the essence of our existence in an efflorescing tapestry of moments past.

In this sunless Elysium, stasis becomes liberation. Each day unfolds in repetitive cycles, a ritualized choreography that insulates us from the annihilating encroachment of passing years. With each purr and gentle brush against my weathered skin, I sense tectonic masses of time shifting invisibly around me, crystallizing into an infinity of stillness.”

contemplating false hopes and promises, 2023
acrylic, rocks, cat plates, cat toys, clamp light on foamcore/wood armature

dead or dreaming, 2023
acrylic, wood armature, cat litter, mirror, cat toys/ephemera on canvas

buried alive, 2023
acrylic on canvas in cat litter/wood artist frame

absolution of the soul, 2023
acrylic, and cat ephemera on foamcore/wood armature

disillusion forecast, 2023
cat ephemera in wooden/foamcore box on custom plinth

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Philip Hinge (b. 1988, Seattle, WA) holds an MFA in painting from the Virginia Commonwealth University. Hinge’s work has been exhibited at a variety of venues, including; Stepsister, (NY, NY), Mélange (Cologne, DE), The Bunker Artspace (Miami, FL), Freddy (Harris, NY), Final Hot Desert (Utah), 106 Green (NY, NY), mcg21xoxo (Chiba, Japan), Felix Art Fair (w/ Brennan & Griffin, NY) Plague Space (Krasnador, RU), Context, Art Miami (Miami, FL), Marvin Gardens (Ridgewood, NY), and International Objects (Brooklyn, NY).

In addition to his studio work, Hinge also runs and curates two separate projects, Catbox Contemporary (Ridgewood, NY), and darkZone (NJ). Catbox Contemporary has regularly held cat tree focused exhibits in and out of Hinge’s apartment since 2017, with notable external shows being held at Alyssa Davis Gallery (NY, NY), Hot Wheels Athens (Athens, Greece), Felix Art Fair (2019), Baitball (Polignano a Amare, Italy organized by Like a Little Disaster and Pane Project) and Pangée (Montreal, CA). darkZone started in 2019 in the basement of Hinge’s childhood’s home, holding a consistent schedule of shows exploring the emotional ephemera of family history. Hinge was also a founding member of A.D. (NY, NY), which he helped run from 2019 to 2021. Hinge lives and works in Ridgewood, NY.