Channing Hansen: Cosmic Fabric

Marc Selwyn Fine Art is pleased to present Cosmic Fabric, an exhibition of new work by Los Angeles based artist Channing Hansen. A catalog will be published concurrently and available at the gallery for purchase. 

Hansen’s artistic process is fundamentally based on his materials, as he immerses himself in the complex journey of how raw fleece becomes knitted yarn. Hansen processes and blends the fibers, creates custom dyes, and twists the strands of wool into yarn which then form the basis of his “paintings.” Fiber achieves what paint cannot by adding physicality and multi-dimensionality to the artist’s compositions. 

Hansen derives his knitted patterns from complex digital algorithms which draw on systems and phenomena found in nature and the cosmos. These algorithms allow Hansen to achieve “purposeful randomness,” as the computer generates and determines pattern, color, and dimension. 

While the use of technology might seem like a digression from the natural world, Hansen believes that the convergence of science and art provides the most truthful window into both, resulting in a more intricate and layered perspective on the universe. Using natural materials manipulated entirely by his own hands, Hansen is able to explore the humanistic side of science. Hansen’s commitment to process and the combination of artistry and methodical study is informed by his Fluxus background, which began with his participation in his grandfather Al Hansen’s Happenings.

While allowing his knitting to be guided by algorithms, Hansen takes back control in the final phase of his process. As Hansen stretches his knitted pieces over frames, he manipulates and reconstructs the knitted canvas. The ultimate product is a collaboration between Hansen and the computer’s algorithm. This exhibition’s square compositions are filled with vibrant colors and a stunning array of shapes, textures, and knitted patterns.

Hansen transforms and describes nature, exploring the “fabric” of the universe and creating a material manifestation through technology and craft. As the artist explains, “Cosmic Fabric represents my exploration of the creation of our universe through both scientific and metaphysical modalities. Studying the beginnings of space and time led me to cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), the afterglow of the space-time continuum, the residual heat of creation left over from the Big Bang. I then used NASA's 3D modeling data of the CMBR to create works that exist in an infinite-dimensional topology. Space-time becomes a literal fabric. The Big Bang acts as a canvas, or as the late Germano Celant posited, ‘a continuous surface existing in time ad infinitum... an enormous roll of diversified fabric, woven in a single piece and unrolled in time and in space.’”

Cosmic Fabric at Marc Selwyn Fine Art is part of the PST ART Gallery Program. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art