ARTWORK > THE OVERGROWN GARDEN

This recent installation foregrounds an analog between our cultural, decorative conventions and the idea of untenable growth. Though there are no actual plants here, I imagine this piece as a kind of abandoned homestead of the future over which grows an aggressive, escaped "garden" of thoroughly floral domestic cast-offs. The negative spaces of the patterns on the couches, armchairs, rugs, and textiles are all painted with matching gallery white paint, resulting in an ethereally camouflaged space that confuses the indoors with the outdoors, while also establishing a unified visual "ground" that allows better visibility of the decorative forms.

The Overgrown Garden, installation view
Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg SC
2018
The Overgrown Garden, detail
Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg SC
2018
The Overgrown Garden, detail
Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg SC
2018
The Overgrown Garden, detail
Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg SC
2018
The Overgrown Garden, detail
Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg SC
2018
The Overgrown Garden, detail
Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg SC
2018
The Overgrown Garden
gallery paint on collected objects and textiles
10' x 16' x 9'
2017
The Garden
gallery white paint on found furniture
9' x 16' x 12'
2015
The Garden
gallery white paint on found furniture
9' x 16' x 12'
2015
The Garden, detail
gallery white paint on found furniture
9' x 16' x 12'
2015
Audio Guide for The Overgrown Garden
museum audioguide and video documentation of the process of installation
2018
The Garden
gallery white paint on reclaimed furniture, wallpaper, rugs, and other objects
15' x 15' x 8'
2015
Spartanburg Art Museum
scan of exhibition postcard
printed size 4" x 6"
2018
Plain Airs
exhibition postcard
printed size 4" x 6"
2015

This piece was shown in its first iteration as part of Plain Airs at the Indianapolis Art Center in Indianapolis, IN in fall 2015. In spring 2017, it was re-worked for my solo show Escape from Cultivation at Furman University and most recently in summer 2018 for Off the Wall, a contemporary sculpture survey at the Spartanburg Art Museum in Spartanburg, SC.

To listen to the audioguide created by the Spartanburg Art Museum for my piece, click here. Audioguides for each artist in the exhibition can be found here through August 5, 2018.