In summer of 2020 the Los Angeles gallery Durden and Ray presented We Are Here/Here We Are, an LA County-wide exhibition of nearly 100 artists. Due to the constraints of the COVID-19 lockdown, these artists have chosen public spaces to display their work in unorthodox alternatives to a traditional gallery setting, using a wide variety of media interventions in neighborhood alleyways, yards, trees, bushes, on rocks, fences, telephone poles, and other publicly accessible areas. The works in We Are Here/Here We Are were ephemeral in nature: vulnerable to the elements and to those who might destroy or confiscate them. Their resilience showed an innate desire to be present in the real world and to be seen as an individual amongst a larger collective peer group, despite all odds.
2020, Altered lobster trap with assorted collection of buttons, wire rings, zip ties, rope, and tension springs, approx. 9ft x 2ft in circumference
Collection of Greenly Center, Signal Hill, CA
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For the exhibition St. Broxville Wood: Into the Thicket I tackled the subject of the violence of nature as I depicted raging thunderstorms and their aftermath. Informed by site visits, forensic photography, first-hand accounts and evidence of altered environments including the old growth oak forests and swamplands of my Tennessee hometown, I used a variety of media, from video to printmaking to branch-based installation to depict the violent thrust of wind and rain, twigs, branches, and other ephemera hurled into space by its force. By contrast, I had also made ceramic black stillwater pools, subversively reflecting the objects above.
Comeuppance: Rebar, t-shirt fabric, limbs, wire, zip ties, resin, cotton rope, chain, yoga mat, carabiners, clothes hangers, 180 x 180 x 192 inches
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Part of series of 30 hand-built ceramic bowls, crushed eggshells, dimensions variable
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Tree root, wicker, asphaltum, wood glue, limbs, metal hardware, bra, coat hangers, rope, dimensions variable
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Tree root, plastic. umbrella ribs, metal hardware, casters, leash 40 x 25 x 20 inches
Private collection
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Tree root, wicker, asphaltum, wood glue, limbs, metal hardware, coat hangers, rope, 60 x 35 x 36 inches
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Tree root, wicker, asphaltum, rope, 7 x 4 x 9 feet
Private collection
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Grapevine, wisteria vine, wood glue, 72 x 56 x 22 inches
Wooden panel, bamboo, wicker, wood glue, asphaltum, resin, bird feather, Series of 3, approx. 14 x 16 x 20 inches each
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Tree root, wicker, asphaltum, wood glue, metal hardware, screening, coat hangers, rope, approx. 16 x 20 x 5 inches each
Private collection
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Tree root, wicker, t-shirt fabric, rope, 4 x 4 x 12 feet
Private collection
Photo: John Pinson
Wood boulder, casters, 20 x 13 x 30 inches, series of three
Private collection
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Water-based ink wood-cut on magnolia paper, series of 22, 16 x 28 inches each
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
Flow By: Video projection, 57 minutes, 37 seconds, looped
Mirror Mirror: Part of series of 30 hand-built ceramic bowls, dimensions variable
Tree Ring Series: Upholstery fabric, thread, series of 12, 14-21 inches diameter each
Stumps, 2019, by Hilary Norcliffe: 7 tree stumps from neighbor’s fallen pine tree
Photo: William Gunn, Wolverine Photography
TIMBER/TIMBRE was a project conceived of by Hilary Norcliffe, Jennifer Gunlock and myself, as part of the Long Beach multisensory inaugural event PUMP on 2017. This multi-faceted urban forest was intended to spark both curiosity and respect for trees: growing, felled, whispering, transforming, sheltering, supporting, flexing, and singing.
For TIMBER/TIMBRE, I created Canopy, a series of four seasonal large-scale painted, suspended ceiling pieces recalling and celebrating the memories of sky-high forest canopies. A shallow pool below one painting reflects and repeats the piece.
Wading pool, plastic sheeting, tar, river rocks, water, eggshells, 12 x 48 inches in circumference
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Mixed media woodcut print and collage, acetate, and tape on archival paper, approx. 18 x 12 inches each
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Twisters to the North: Mixed media woodcut print and collage, acetate, and tape on archival paper, approx. 18 x 12 inches each
Video installation; 20-minute manipulated video footage of a storm in a Tennessee forest on a loop, presented in a 4 x 6-foot canvas-draped cubicle 'fort' with ambient storm audio
Acrylic on plastic sheeting, 18 x 20 feet
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Acrylic on plastic sheeting, 18 x 20 feet
Acrylic on plastic sheeting, 18 x 20 feet
Acrylic on plastic sheeting, 18 x 20 feet
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This mixed media drawing installation was inspired by a love of soaking in an outdoor claw-footed porcelain tub, dreaming of the future and the potential it holds. This 108 x 96-inch installation, which included $150 worth of actual winning lottery tickets, was presented at Artist Co-Op, Long Beach, CA in 2019.
Electrical tape, strapping tape, masking tape, tissue paper, gouache, ink, graphite on rag paper, and pins, with real and replicated lottery scratchers.