Elements
September 14-November 22, 2006
Downloadable Curator’s Essay for Elements
Elements brought together the work of four women artists who have been individually focused on the interconnections of art and science. Though not stylistically similar they have all made bodies of work related to earth, air, fire and water and sometimes in combination. In early Greek philosophy these four elements were believed to be the basis of all matter. As the theory was expanded upon it became the basis for western thinking about the natural world until the rise of chemistry in the 18th century. The work in this exhibition relate to both the archaic as well as scientific thinking regarding the elements and their properties.
Jackie Brookner “Utterance” detailJackie Brookner
Jackie Brookner is an ecological artist who creates what she terms, “bio-sculptures”, living artworks that include water filtration systems complete with plant life. Brookner’s “Utterance” is a wall sculpture in the shape of a human tongue which consists of soil, winterstone, volcanic rocks, moss, and plants. The tongue is a provocative image because it is a part of our selves where physical and mental functions come together.
Eve Andrée Laramée “Fluid Geographies” detail
Eve Andrée Laramée
Eve Andrée Laramée’s work comments on how human beings contemplate and consider nature through both art and science in a way that embraces poetry, absurdity, contradiction and metaphor. Her artwork investigates the environmental legacy of the development of atomic weapons through photographs, text, maps and video. In “Fluid Geographies” Laramée documents the effects of radioactive and other toxic waste on the arroyos and the Rio Grande watershed near the Los Alamos National Laboratories.
Stacy Levy “Pelt” detail
Stacy Levy
Stacy Levy works with water, wind, tides, pollution, decay and microorganisms–using art as a vehicle for transplanting the patterns and processes of the natural world into the language of human understanding. Her sculpture tells the story of the site and the intersection of ecological and cultural influences. Past projects have included mapping the watersheds with water collected from the tributaries of the Delaware River in Philadelphia and New Jersey.
Dove Bradshaw “Self-Interest” detail
Dove Bradshaw
Dove Bradshaw has an extensive exhibition career working in the realm of science and poetry where she takes on the role of catalyst. Her installations have included beakers, substances dripping from glass funnels, crystallizations and evidence of procedures that might be commonly found in the science lab.
