Exhibition Information

Jack Elliott: Laying in the Cut (Continued)
August 30 - October 16, 2021

In general, Elliott produces sculptures that explore the relations between trees, people, and our shared biophysical environment. These "Arborworks" are derived from parts of trees that have been naturally harvested or have been removed because of disease or obstruction. The sculptures often refer to an environmental issue, such as climate change or the depreciation of nature, but their primary purpose is to move the viewer through their form and surface, often charged with symbolic associations. Elliott's broad practice brushes against topics associated with human ecology, nature, and the Anthropocene. Several pieces in the show intentionally introduce synthetic or manufactured materials to contrast the raw materiality of wood. The juxtaposition brings forward questions addressing how technology and industry lean against the natural world and how to interpret and think about the outcome of this interaction. The work exposes the hidden beauty of these specimens through strategic planar cuts and intentional in orientations and placements. Each object is different, but they are all characterized by the aim to challenge ideas about the human/nature relationship through juxtapositions of the geometric and the organic; the intentional and the spontaneous; the light and the dark. Elliott adds, "I do not force the material away from what it is as a sign of mastery. I work with the material as it is to allow its hidden powers to be revealed through a set of minimalist interventions. My sculpture appeals to contain the biophilic sensibility, the love of life/nature that we all share, regardless of our backgrounds. The sculpture intends to de-center the anthropocentric for the biocentric, where the boundaries between humans and trees are deliberately blurred in a kind of ecological post-humanist approach to art."