Circular. Rectangular. Triangular. Zigzags. Sitting and standing like a flock of visiting ancestral spirits, Janet Goldner’s Zigzags gather in silent assembly behind the Plus/Space gate. We can peer in at their hard three-dimensional bodies, dark with patina and age. An alphabet of abstraction.  

These welded steel sculptures are inspired by the artist’s annual research trips to Mali over many years. They reference symbolic writing systems and cultural objects, such as chiwaras, masks and ideograms which are imbued with Malian philosophy. Zigzag symbols in the bamana mileau can represent a road that is not straight but contains many twists, turns and detours. 

Always shown in groupings, Goldner’s Zigzags might feel like an obscure miniature city, the early monuments within its walls, or the language used inside. To look at them means to choose a path. Up, down, left, right, round, around, back again. Our eyes follow their direction to a road around the corner and around the world.  – Ruby Lindsey, Curator https://fivemyles.org/zigzags