DON’T PANIC

CHELSEA GILMORE

 

February 6, 2020 – March 1, 2020
Reception: February 14, [6-9 pm]
Artist Talk: February 15, [6-8pm]

As an installation artist, I create new landscapes that seek a balance of building new worlds from the waste of this one. I am compelled to find moments of intimacy, beauty, and wonder through the transformation of abundant and common materials. With a reverence for the natural world, I am motivated and inspired by the transitional landscapes where culture and nature collide. The scale and volume of the work speaks for itself as a call for action and awareness to the state of global consumption and industrial waste in our changing world.

Using repurposed materials I create site-specific installations that embody transformation with a sense of decay, entropy and growth. Often working with local sources, each installation begins with collecting and curating a mass of non-recyclable materials. Assembling these byproducts, I approach the project intuitively and methodically- pursuing new ways to present material through detailed handcrafting, carefully re-ordering, and re-contextualizing them into new life.

Working with the products of industry, I manipulate found and reclaimed media into large-scale organic forms that emphasize both the beautiful intricacies in nature and the inorganic nature of the materials themselves. As I combine a large volume of repetitive, organic forms, my work naturally feels familiar yet otherworldly at the same time. In exploring the concept of memory, the work focuses on the process of transformation, the exchange of information, and the collection of narratives bound to the forms.

I take the unassuming and create the unexpected- emphasizing moments of curiosity and discovery and challenging the boundaries of the familiar, the natural, and the dream-like state of remembering. My work opens possibilities of transformation- offering opportunities for innovation and environmental justice. I create momentum toward consciously traversing the contemporary landscapes, between industry and nature, from a creative and sustainable perspective.