frogs funnel into the floor for regina silveira's amphibia installation

frogs funnel into the floor for regina silveira’s amphibia installation
amphibia, 2013/2016 | vinyl and metal grate | dimensions variable
all images courtesy alexander gray associates, new york © 2016 regina silveira / artists rights society (ARS), new york

regina silveira
alexander gray associates, new york
now through march 26, 2016

artist regina silveira has realized a room-sized, mixed media installation at new york’s alexander gray associates — transforming the perception of space through minimal intervention. the site-specific ‘amphibia’ covers the walls and floor of the gallery’s second floor with a graphic sequence of oversized frogs, the silhouettes of which funnel towards a gilded metal grate in the center of the floor. visitors are drawn into an immersive and experimental setting, where perspective is skewed and the interior space is distorted beyond recognition. 

‘amphibia’ covers the walls and floor of the new york gallery

the placement of the frogs, notably one of the biblical plagues, adopts the motif as an allegory to communicate contemporary social and political concerns. 
for curator paulo miyada, ‘the woes that afflicted ancient egypt might be compared in the context of regina silveira’s work, to the current ills of corruption, war, and surveillance.’ overall, silveira’s large scale vinyl installations and visual language is defined 
by what she describes as ‘images with characteristics of aggregation and accumulation, with the power to cover surfaces and to function as graphic invasions or contaminations, which could radically transform the meanings 
of the…spaces where they were placed.’

visitors to alexander gray gallery are drawn into an immersive and experimental setting

natural perspective is skewed and the interior space is distorted beyond recognition

the frog silhouettes funnel towards a gilded metal grate in the center of the floor