Time goes by. Oh my, does it fly?
But sometimes it creeps along like the slowest of songs, just gotta let it sing.
Pieces started and finished months later, reflections of the great thing itself, growing older and looking back at how we got to where we are now.
Please enjoy this show. Take your time.
To view “The Art of Aging” exhibition, please click here
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The theme for both of these pieces is the concept of healing ancestral wounds across time and approaches for this process.
Time Heals All Wounds*. A summary of some of the astrological studies I've done in regards to Pluto being the planet that works with long-term wounding. I'm posing the question that if emotional wounds don't get healed in one lifetime, who becomes responsible for the healing? How do we heal the deep emotional wounding that is handed down to us from our ancestors? I tried to portray Pluto as both catalyst and healer; bringing attention to our wounding and also providing the tools to help heal.
Veneration "Chaos" Quilt. Much of what I've learned about ancestral remediation work involves honoring your ancestors by giving them time and attention in your day-to-day, be it altar work or prayer or otherwise, and that by doing this work it is possible to heal wounds that transcend lifetimes. Quilting is an action some of my ancestors spent many days doing. By replicating this I felt I was honoring the work they did in their lives and creating a connection to them across time. This piece serves as a sort of altar to my ancestors, generational healing, and to my own healing and discovery process.
Oliver L M
“Echoing Berlin”
(11:17:00)
Digital video
2018
Echoing Berlin is a whimsical short contemplating memories of two week's time abroad in Germany as a student, briefly encountering its peoples, cultures, and its deep history.
I look to Dadaist/surrealist film visual sensibility, prioritizing evocations of potential subconscious meaning. Superimposed video clips and photographs create a fluid thread of visual vignettes form non-linear non-narrative recollections of my experiences. Frenetic and hypnotically vibrant scenes pass quickly, brimming with activity, and constant motion. This and personal undefined symbolism of imagery offers impressions about activities occurring within each shifting suggested environment, acknowledgement of historical context, and a sense of their emotional impact upon (and personal significance) to me.
A reflection on blooming vs. growing in the feminine form, and the fleeting and fickle nature and usefulness of blooming vs. the rest of the plant (and human) lifetime.
Inspired by the absurdism of time as experienced through a dream state, when in context with the experience of waking time.
Childhood creations stem from vivid imaginings and are unique interpretations of the broader world. Through exploring the evolution of my art practice from childhood to present day, my work re-imagines creatures and objects that I have previously created. I have found a deep admiration for my artwork as a child and the potential creativity I had within me. Reflecting on my growth as an artist, how my art has progressed, and how I view my art differently now; my present day work takes these images and reshapes them in a 3 dimensional form.
With emphasis on the art making process, using mixed media materials and intensive fabrication techniques, my work showcases the adult artist I am today and the changing complexity of my work over time. Taking inspiration from artists such as Tom Sachs, known for sculpting everyday objects on a larger, more industrially permanent scale, my re-creations follow the blocky, simplistic style of early childhood drawings yet are composed of similarly heavy materials, such as metal and wood.
“Forever Et Cetera...”
I made this piece in 2016 when I was dealing with spontaneous osteonecrosis of my left medial femur. I was on temporary disability from my job and my insurance wouldn’t ok the surgery my doctor wanted to preform as my treatment plan. I was stuck in a bureaucratic time loop that dragged on for 9 months with no treatment. For the last 6 months in 2022 I’m dealing with a mirror image case spontaneous osteonecrosis in my right medial femur, again trying to solve the puzzle.
-Steeb Russell
“One Day at a Time"
Time goes by endlessly so it seems. But, our lives are made up of individual days. And what we choose do with our hands every single day presented to us, brings the meaning of our lives.
-DEAD BONE DAD
Timelessness is a feeling where time doesn’t exist. A day goes by at the whim of however it lands. No pressure, no place to go, nothing to do by a certain time. No worries.
I created this collage using the creative subconscious mind collage process with the topic of the wonder of time in my mind. I selected a few magazines that I thought might have time pieces in it. I looked for persons within those magazines that might be feeling things time. I pulled from these resources for about 10 minutes. I then created this collage from the images I had pulled. When I create this way I have to trust the process. The images pulled seem to guide the creation into its being. I always feel like the inside of me is crafting what it all might mean. I ask where should I stitch and it tells me. I know when to stop, because it lets me know. It will say to me stop. this is your message. I see in this stitched collage that time is multidimensional, that it intersects. I see the pressure and the freedom of time. I see how time becomes you, or pulls at you, I see time telling all, I see when time is no longer in your hands or when time is bigger than all of us.
Upon first glance, this may appear to be just another photo of a sunset. The gentle sway of the grass along with the subtle movement of waves creeping in fills me with serenity as the clouds disperse; making room for the sun’s goodbye as the first day of the new year comes to a close. This was a moment in time I wanted to be trapped in forever along with all the emotions of fear, curiosity, and amazement that came with it. As I began processing and printing the photo, I realized that moment had gone away just as quickly as it came.
For me this photo truly represents the passing of time, memories, and the continual pursuit to recapture those moments. The more I studied the print, the less I remembered about the actual event. The texture of the paper along with the grain of the film make me feel as though I am witnessing an event that occurred long before my time. The waves have come and gone, the grass died and grown again, and the clouds moved on to other skies. Perhaps this is how time works: the details quickly become distorted as new memories come and take precedence over the old ones.
This painting is of the Carrara Marble Quarry in Tuscany, Italy. The marble from this quarry is also known as Luna Marble. Its use dates back to Ancient Roman Times. The marble has been used in such famous works as Michaelagelo's David and La Pieta. It also has ties to famous Roman structures such as the Pantheon. The marble and granite from this quarry continues to be extracted and used to this day.
I got lost in this piece because I felt as if it was unfinished and that I could keep extracting structure from it. The unsettled nature of the pandemic left me with anxiety and I channeled it into this painting. I felt as if I was stuck at the bottom of this marble quarry; wondering if we would ever get out. The thought of it being over was a relief but also left me with the question: "where do I go from here?" The only answer was up and out.