Woods Davy works with stones in natural, unaltered states, collected from the sea or the earth, and assembles them into fluid and precarious sculptural combinations that appear weightless. Art writer Shana Nys Dambrot has observed that Davy's work is "a collaboration between artist and nature," one in which the artist "prefers to cooperate with the pre-existing uniqueness and objecthood of his materials."

In this new series of work, Davy has gathered dead, bleached coral from the shores of various Caribbean islands. Before they died, these pieces of coral bloomed with colonies of living polyps, glowing with brilliant colors. He has now given them a new symbolic life, calling attention to global warming and other man-made distress factors that have created negative effects on our ocean's environment. At once contemporary and archaic, these lifelike, pregnant forms manifest a calm reductive force, as they appear to rise to the surface of the ocean, or drift upwards to the skies. Evoking ancient Cycladic sculpture in their paleness and purity of form, while simultaneously addressing environmental issues of our own time, these works reference the past and invoke thoughts about our future.


Just as there are multiple layers of paint and photography in Holly Roberts' work, there are also complex narrative stratum drawn from the artist's personal stories, world religions, and the cultural history of the American Southwest. In the 80s and 90s, Roberts became recognized for hauntingly dark painted photographs, which had a glow that appeared to emanate from obscured silver prints within. Then, ten years ago, like the ancient Greek vase painters who reversed from black to red figures to gain expressive opportunity, she began collaging her photographic elements onto painted surfaces. Her animals and figures are now formed with cutout photos of trees, dried mud, Navajo blankets, snakeskins, newsprint, nests, and eyes in quirky and suggestive combinations. Roberts is part of the tradition of artists throughout the ages who have reinterpreted classical mythologies and religious parables to tell their own stories, bringing contemporary resonance to traditional tales. She recently wrote, "Part of starting a new body of work is trying to think of ways to make images that are new...and my main battle is in not letting myself do what I know how to do." In the work pictured above, Young Woman Watching, Roberts spent weeks putting together different elements that resulted in a self-portrait from her childhood, something she didn't realize was happening until she finished.


In our office, we will feature a selection of recent textile works by Tanja Rector. Originally from Amsterdam, but currently living and working in Los Angeles, Rector's sewn fabric assemblages combine folk elements of Gee's Bend quilts, earth tones of Southwest landscapes, and Modernist sensibilities of Anni Albers and the Bauhaus.

On view in the gallery office:

Tanja Rector
Images | Biography