LIGNIN: A HOMECOMING
MAKENZIE DAVIS
SEPTEMBER 8, 2023- OCTOBER 8, 2023
EXHIBIT RECEPTION SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 [7-9 PM]
In Lignin: A Homecoming, Davis facilitates social ties and material connections, comparing Longmont’s inhabitants to the natural world, namely, the omnipresent element of lignin. Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials and supportive tissues of most plants. Integral to the structure of Longmont and the exhibit itself is the similarly supporting role of the community.
After completing her three year Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Hawaii, Davis returned to Longmont in May of 2022. The Firehouse residency offered a way to reconnect to her art practice outside of academia and observe changes in the local landscape. During the two month residency, she expanded upon her painting and paper-making practices by taking a deeper look into the transforming environment of her home in the Front Range. Expansive oil paintings depict the familiar and iconic landscapes of Longmont, while handmade paper displays the more abstract components of the local landscape such as organic materials, natural processes, and the lignin-like community members: people who act as the fibers that form and support our culture. Longmont residents were initially invited to participate by donating junk mail and newspapers. Additionally, various plant matter and soil were sourced from all over town and the surrounding areas. Most of the handmade paper in the exhibit was created in collaboration with those who participated in her papermaking workshops. By layering this material over areas of the paintings, Davis reveals the truest landscape of Longmont – the tightly woven lignin of its community.
The Firehouse Art Center hosts two residencies each year, working in the South Gallery for three months before a culminating solo exhibition in the Main Gallery with the opportunity to guest curate the accompanying South Gallery.
The Artist Occupied program at the Firehouse Art Center is intended as a professional development opportunity for emerging and experienced visual artists.Bring you work to a new creative level as you connect visitors to working artist environments and processes.
Previous resident artists include Heather Kegel, Sean Faling, Jessica Forrestal, Chris Blume, Kaitlyn Tucek, Roberta Restaino, Chelsea Gilmore, Barbara Rudlaff, Amy Hoagland, Janelle Anderson, Jono Wright, and Nancy Eastman.
