99¢ Plus Gallery is pleased to present Sleeveless, a solo exhibition of graphite drawings on paper by Robert Otto Epstein.

Drawn from vintage knitting and crochet pattern charts from the 1950's through the 1980's, Robert Otto Epstein’s series Sleeveless is inspired by the bodily, sculptural, and architectural forms inherent to instructional charts for knitwear, as well as the coded nature of their signs and symbols. Robert Otto Epstein works very systematically, even obsessively, to draw each knitting sign and symbol, paying particular attention to every marker on the 'map.' Through this body of work Epstein explores the way that repetitiveness is structured into discrete forms that are shaped by the prototype, which then becomes the pattern, which then becomes the system, which is then in itself repeating. For Epstein, these patterns present a fascinating system of production ,which although intended for the hobbiest crafter, once abstracted, presents a beautiful and meditative process. The pattern, as a means of being or appearing by way of repeating is simultaneously an act, a process, and a product.