I haven't previously posted all eight pieces from the Dissolution series that was exhibited at the Vermont Supreme Court in 2019, and thought I should do it now!
The pieces in this suite chronicle the dissolution of a "relationship" between humans and the natural world (represented by animals), from the Peaceable Kingdom beginning to the Armageddon end. The organizing idea was a love story of acquaintance, courtship, marriage, estrangement, and separation, ending in hostility and battle. I also intended the series to resemble the Stations of the Cross, in the sense of offering viewers an opportunity for observation and reflection as they move through the numbered series.
These eight pieces are built on 20-year-old oil-on-board paintings from 1998, which were among those exhibited in my first solo show in Montpelier, at the Arts Council’s Spotlight Gallery! The paintings were stored in my studio for 20 years, until I decided to repurpose them for this exhibit. I sealed them with shellac (a surface treatment made of the secretions of a female insect from India or Thailand, the lac beetle), then collaged over with figures of people and animals made with wine foils (the wrappers at the top of a wine bottle that seal the cork).
I’ve been using wine foils for many years in my work, inspired by the work of the late Vermont artist G. Roy Levin. In a more recent association, my work has affinities with the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, who makes wall sculptures that employ thousands of caps from bottles of alcoholic beverages. The phrase in vino veritas expresses the idea that wine brings out the truth. In this moment, we are certainly in need of truth, however we can elicit and examine it.
1 The Beginning, 1998/2018, mixed media, 27”x 36”, $1350
2 Parnership of Equals, 1998/2019, mixed media, 24” x 32”, $1200
3 Mutuality, 1998/2018, mixed media, 30” x 30”, $1200
4 Irreconcilable Differences, 1998/2018, 29.5” x 35”, $1400
5 Attempted Communication, 1998/2018, mixed media, 36” x 28”, $1400
6 Parting Ways, 1998/2018, mixed media, 24” x 33”, $1200
7 Tipping Point, 1998/2018, mixed media, 31” x 31”, $1200
8 The End, 1998/2019, mixed media, 36” x 54”, $2700
