“Pen Pals” features continuous communications between Jared Cru Smith’s personified sculptures and Sydney Craig’s characters.

This dialogue illustrates the power and importance of having what they call a “Desperation Buddy” to work through mental, physical, and emotional obstacles that occur throughout the artistic process. The pieces demonstrate how both artists rely on intuition and revel in the tinkering phase as they explore ways to communicate ideas, support, and criticisms through restructuring and recontextualizing objects and materials already rich with their own histories and identities.

“Pen Pals” will be on view in the Basile Gallery of Eskenazi Hall from March 22 through April 22, 2023.

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