I like art that makes us look at ordinary, dull things that most people pass by everyday.. or things that we find objectionable or even disgusting in a new light. Part of the curse or blessing of being an artist is to notice things that most people don’t.
I find an endless fascination in things like smoke, the bubbles in a bath, or the passing clouds, which probably labels me as an artist that is interested in stupid stuff that should be seen in passing, but these are the things that blow me away. Even a walk in the park that I have passed through a thousand times can see me frozen still by a tree that is lit perfectly by the sun, or composed in a way that looks more perfect than any painting could ever be. A simple walk can be visual overload, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I pity those that don’t see the ordinary as extraordinary as it must be such a dull existance.
Anyway, my point is not to ramble on about my walks through the park but to mention an exhibition about an artist that has used an ugly medium to create something beautiful. Cal Lane has used 55 gallon oil drums and industrial relics to create delicate floral and lace influenced works of art.
In preparation for “Sweet Crude,” Cal Lane wielded the plasma cutter to transform a host of industrial relics –from the small (shovels and gas cans) to the large (dumpsters, 55-gallon drums, car doors) to the architectural (I-beams)– into works of art. The result of Lane’s unique sculptural process is best described (in her own artist statement) as “an image of opposition that creates a balance –as well as a clash– by comparing and contrasting ideas and materials. This is manifested in a series of Industrial Doilies, pulling together industrial and domestic life as well as relationships of strong and delicate, masculine and feminine, practical and frivolity, ornament and function.”
She is exhibiting at the Patricia Faure Gallery in Santa Monica from the 8th of March through to the 12th of April.
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