Hayley Martell “Sent With Gentle Effect” Presented by Auto Body at Sad Gallery, New York

“Sent with Gentle Effect” nurtures a quiet flame with blow torches.

Upon entering visitors are guided to play a soft acoustic loop of Jeff Buckley’s “Hallaluja” and amplify the song with glass coffee pots. Surrounded by the warm glow of many candles the song becomes layered as more people enter the space, echoing Cohen’s ballad.

Martell’s video work captures candid mechanics between person and object. Perseverance and acceptance bring a tenderness to these handicapped interactions. A man navigates the subway with a haphazard luggage wheel attached to a box. A women manipulates an organic clay shape between her toes on the sidewalk. The cursor hovers over various videos, editing the feed with an invisible hand. A second video work shows a curled neck pillow slowly releasing its tension.

Everything is in process. There is no culmination but a reverence in these careful changes, transits, and transformations that invest their environments with love.

Text and Photo Elise Gallant