27.5 × 35.5 cm, color pencil on paper, 2020 - framed
Mairikke Dau’s practice is geared toward making unlike things fit together as if they were natural companions. Like puzzle pieces, her bold forms perfectly hug the contours of each other, clearly delineated by their hard edges. Some forms are abstract shapes while others are recognizable motifs. Everything fits neatly on the two-dimensional plane as if each element she drafts was always meant to be there. Her unusual combinations are boundless, and encourage viewers to come up with their own intuitive associations. These seemingly random arrangements create the sense that there is something useful about her careful technique of bringing order to disorder. Dau turns chaotic arrangements into recognizable patterns that recall memories and conjure the imagination.
Mairikke Dau (b. 1979, San Francisco, CA) received a BFA from University of California Santa Cruz in 2001, and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2013. Most recently, Dau’s work has been exhibited at Harper’s, New York and East Hampton, NY (2021 and 2020); EXPO Chicago, online (2021); SHRINE, New York, NY (2020); Sardine, Brooklyn, NY (2019); and Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2016). From 2013–17, she organized Home Perm, a performance art event at various venues in Brooklyn, NY. Dau lives and works in New York City.
