This quarter, we took a walking field trip to the Visual Arts Center to see After Dark by Carli Holcomb. The pieces were largely colorless (either black, white, or somewhere in between), which contributed to her title in their austerity. She compares familiar with unfamiliar, synthetic with man-made, public with private, terrestrial with celestial, real with manipulated, and analog with digital in her work in order to recall "the sense of mystery that mimics the time 'after dark.'" In making her work, she uses materials from environments across the country, from the James River in Virginia to the Wind River Mountain Range in Wyoming, and from her personal life. (One of the pieces uses the diamond from her mother's wedding ring.)
While looking around, I was drawn to the austerity of the pieces, and how they were almost removed from our world, yet present and enticing at the same time. (Perhaps this is another intentional pairing in her work.) One of my favorite pieces was the "rock" in the middle of the coal slag pile - the colors captured in the sparkling surface of the coal were absolutely beautiful, and something about it made me want to be near it, understand it, but also let it retain its air of mystery. I did not understand any of her pieces, but that only made the exhibit more enticing; it gave me a sense of curiosity about how Holcomb sees the world. What does she see in nature? How does she see the world in general? How has her mother influenced her life? (This last one is based fully on the use of her mother's wedding ring.)
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AuthorMolly Goodman Archives
May 2019
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