Stranger Factory Presents Chris Ryniak & Amanda Louise Spayd's 'Migration' 3/1

I still can't believe it's already been over a year since Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd's incredible exhibition, Late Season, blew through Stranger Factory. Transcending all expectations, the show was more of an experience than an exhibition and it not only earmarked a number of creative triumphs for Ryniak and Spayd, but it was also Stranger Factory's first sold out exhibition since opening in June 2011. Late Season was simply magical for artists and spectators alike and lucky for us, it was just the beginning: the artist duo is set to return to Albuquerque March 1 for Migration, their latest collaborative effort.

Typically I avoid copying and pasting press releases, but I really couldn't have summed up the show any better than CP's press head, Steve Brown. Enjoy, and stay tuned as we'll be dropping plenty of WIPs and teasers in the weeks leading up to the opening!

Stranger Factory is excited to play host to MIGRATION, the latest collaborative exhibit by Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd. The opening reception is at Stranger Factory on Friday, March 1st from 6 PM – 9 PM. Chris Ryniak’s contributions to Migration include drawings, sculpture, paintings, and very small runs of editioned resin statues of his unique and immediately recognizable creatures. Occupying the world just out of our peripheral vision, Ryniak’s creatures travel through the underbrush in Migration and happily search for the shared meanings in their lives and ours. Covered in lumps, bumps, and smiles, Ryniak’s creatures exemplify singular bits of human personality as they giggle, stumble, stroll, and sometimes just eat their way through life.

Amanda Louise Spayd’s portion of Migration includes plush sculptures, drawings, small runs of editioned resin statues, and mixed media paintings. Packing their belongings and moving on at the turn of the season, Spayd’s hapless bunnies highlight the natural transition of life, and the shedding of detritus as we move from one phase to another. Forever in transition, yet frozen in a sort of adolescent wonder, Spayd’s sack rabbits are themselves scraps and leftovers, wrapped delicately in the cast-offs of others and trudging endlessly from one season to the next in search of their place in the world.

Both artists are close friends, and each has gone through major life transitions in the past few years including leaving their long-time homes for new dwellings. As they helped each other through their own migrations, they abandoned their old lives and learned to create themselves anew. This collaborative show is the culmination of several years of tears and triumphs between two friends who make beautiful monsters.