The Wild
What is it that elevates dirt, wood, or gypsum from its raw state into an object worthy of a pedestal? Cartterfield’s exhibition “The Wild” reflects on this question by deconstructing the traditional forms of the gallery -- the white wall, the pedestal, and the frame -- to interrogate how we assign and interpret the value of the ‘natural’. The works in this show fluctuate between the precise and the crude; they are rebellious of the gallery format for creating value but they are also stuck in its structure. Focusing on this disjunction, Cartterfield demands the viewer consider how we constrain the natural into comfortable, familiar arrangements, and how this impulse reflects a missed opportunity—to know the wild as it is, and not as we want it to be.Press:
“In the galleries:“,Jenkins, Mark, Washington Post, 1/26/2018,
Once Upon A Time, Native
2x4, root ball, joint compound, epoxy, white paint96’’ x 26’’ x 14’’
Visarts Gallery, MD, 2017
Fragile Bedrock
Drywall, 2x4, cherry, earth, joint compound, white paint96’’ x 46’’ x 12’’
Visarts Galllery, MD, 2017
Impeccable Earth
Cherry, glass, photo54’’ x 9’’ x 9’’
2017
Covered Care
54’’ x 9’’ x 9’’Earth, plexiglas, photo
2017
Love Affair in White
Plywood, plaster, joint compound, white paint, photo,54’’ x 9’’ x 9’’
2017