Felt-Occurrence

October 3 - November 14, 2025

Opening reception October 3 | 6-8 pm


Felt-Occurrence presents works which turn the visceral physicality or felt absence of a body into vehicles for conjuring nostalgia, conveying narratives, or illuminating relationalities. Elaine Scarry’s “The Body in Pain” asserts that there is “no activity, no ‘state,’ no experienceable condition or felt-occurrence separate from the objects [being imagined]” (Scarry, 1985). The intersubjective exchange activated by these works closes a gap between artist and viewer, affirming Scarry’s argument that while pain is isolating, imagination might be a vessel for believing the realities of other people. To witness the works in Felt-Occurrence is to simultaneously experience their object(ive) qualities and the sensations they trigger: the uncanniness of inanimate fleshiness, the trauma associated with scarring, the lonesomeness of tools in disuse, the discomfort provoked by distorted bodies. In other words, these works call upon the empathetic response--induced by looking at a body whilst in a body--which manages to bypass systems of processing or interpolation.

Ling-lin Ku’s personified figurative sculptures lovingly and wittingly mirror deep bonds with her partner and identical twin sister. The distorted propotions and varied degrees of contextual specificity in Ranee Henderson’s paintings draw the viewer inside the artist’s intimate memories and symbologies. Clarine Lee’s use of artificial skin as a printing surface creates dimensions of osfuscation inextricable from her photographs which contain real bodies, individuals, and their histories. Justin Emmanuel Dumas experiments with industrial and chemical mediums to investigate the physically and spiritually transformative potentials of self and setting. Joshua Challen Ice decontextualizes objects designed for human functionality, implying thier absent users simultaneously in their own representation. The irony of Scarry’s text is that it recognizes the impossibility of rendering bodily sensations into language while attempting to intellectualize the effect of the exhibition regardless.

This exhibition is juried by davine byon and organized by Nina Friedman at the Tomayko Foundation. Special thanks to Ruby Lark Mendelsund and Michael Parente for their care and support.  

About the artists:

Ling-lin Ku is a Taiwan born, U.S. based multimedia sculptor, her studio is a playground and alchemy of the world where she plays in between tangible materials and digital fabrication. Her artistic approach is a remarkable fusion of traditional techniques and innovative technologies. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, including solo shows at CUE Art Foundation in New York, 18th Street Art Center in Los Angeles, Baltimore Jewelry Center in Baltimore, Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria, Atelier 11 in Paris, France, and CICA Museum in South Korea. Ku received her MFA from University of Texas at Austin in 2019 and BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016. 

Ranee Henderson is a Pittsburgh-based, multi-disciplinary artist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from both Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2010, Fine Art), and Art Center College of Design (2015, Illustration and Fine Art) and completed her MFA at Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College (2019). Most recently, Henderson has exhibited at One Trick Pony, Steven Zevitas, Make Room, and Phase galleries and was a participant at the Golden Residency (2020) and at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2019). She has built a diverse body of work, which has been exhibited in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. 

Clarine Lee is a Korean artist currently based in Pittsburgh. Her work often features and integrates themes of illegibility, fragmentation, and ephemerality of memory. Her action of taking away--whether by reducing legibility or fragmenting memories--emphasizes the impermanence of everything and the importance of attempts at partial preservation. Each of her works ventures to create conversations between the tangible and the ephemeral, highlighting the fragility and rarity that reside within the things often overlooked or left behind. She primarily works with photography, book forms, and textiles and towards blurring the bounds of these seemingly disparate mediums. Lee graduted in May 2025 from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA and a minor in Photography and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

Justin Emmanuel Dumas lives and works in Pittsburgh. Dumas attended Duquesne University for Communications, Philisophy, and Art History, and graduated with an MFA in painting and print making from Yale in 2024. He attended residencies at Fountainhead and Bunker Projects, and is currently the William E. Strickland Fellow at Manchester Craftsman’s Guild. Recept group shows include David Castillo, Yossi Milo, Spurs Gallery, Romance Gallery, and the Carnegie Museum of Art. 

Joshua Challen Ice’s work is informed by a fascination with the making process at all scales, from furniture to architecture, and a critical view of impermanence. Ice’s work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Sculpture Center (Cleveland, OH), Carlow University Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA), and Gradient Project Space (Thomas, WV) and in group exhibitions at the Miller ICA at Carnegie Mellon University, SPACE Gallery, and the Royal Danish Academy, among other venues. He has participated in artist residencies and fellowships in the United States and Europe and created numerous immersive public art installations throughout Pittsburgh. Ice graduated from Point Park University with a BFA in Lighting Design and Entertainment Technology. 



Installation images courtesy of Chris Uhren