Bonsai

Jared Pankin
"Half "
2008
Wood, fake fur, foam
68 x 25 1/2 x 47"

The exhibition title “Bonsai” aptly describes Pankin’s continued search of man’s investigation of and attempts to conquer nature...Chinese Bonsai is said to be the landscape of imagination and often conjures up the idea of the miniature. “To appreciate and find pleasure in curiously curved potted trees is to love deformity,” Pankin states. For the Japanese, on the other hand, Bonsai represents a fusion of ancient beliefs with Eastern Philosophies of the harmony between man, the soul and nature.

The materials Pankin uses are seemingly random mostly synthetic materials ranging from carpet remnants, to expandable foam and tinted latex grafted with taxidermied parts and selected discarded wood acting as armatures and that have been cut, nailed, and glued to suite the artist’s aesthetics....It is this process that has enabled the artist to create sculptures of enormous power and subtle humor that tears down and reconfigures what is natural or man-made.

Excerpt from the Carl Berg Gallery exhibition, April - May 2008

Wilderness Overload

Casey Roberts

"Steady Work (the charm offensive)"
2008
cyanotype drawing w/collage
69" x 60"

Casey Robert's work illustrates a fantastic landscape. It represents nature's subtle way of dealing with the peculiar aspects in the relationship with mankind. A giant glow-in-the-dark heart, or a pile of precious gems tells us that we are loved, just as blood squirting from an oak tree trunk says, all is not well. Inspired by his conversation with the landscape, Casey imagines long monologues where pine forests make him laugh and mountains test his patience.

These paintings are created with a photochemical process known as cyanotype. The cyanotype is a civil war era process that when exposed to sunlight and developed gives a vibrant blue image.

Excerpt from Casey Robert's website