Erin Jane Nelson, Chronomicrobiome (2023), via Chapter NY
This month, Chapter NY presents Sublunary, the second show at the gallery dedicated to the work of artist Erin Jane Nelson second solo exhibition with the gallery, featuring a new body of work centered around the Okefenokee swamp, including quilted silks, ceramic wall works, and ceramic sculpture. The artist, whose work delves into a range of conceptual frameworks from barrier islands to spirituality to science fiction, here initiates a new project around the border of Georgia and Florida, and the Okefenokee swamp that defines that geographic line.
Erin Jane Nelson, Bladderwort (2023), via Chapter NY
Prevalent in the American South, wetlands play an important role in protecting and preserving the natural world by absorbing excess water and repurposing harmful chemicals. Despite their valuable ecological contributions, nearly half of U.S. wetlands have been eradicated and continue to be threatened. Throughout history swamps have also carried negative associations with witches, monsters, concealment, and decay. Nelson harnesses these connotations as well as the site’s resilience to explore its generative potential. The title of the exhibition, Sublunary, is a term that points to the terrestrial world, that which is situated below the moon, the mundane. Nelson, however, reclaims the sublunary realm as a site of higher possibilities, one that stems from interconnectivity and regeneration, and reveals the expansive, healing potential of the non-human world.
Erin Jane Nelson, Sublunary (Installation View), via Chapter NY
Enacting an ephemeral performance over several visits to the swamp, the artist photographed various life forms, created self-portraits, made drawings, and placed her ceramics along the water. The shapes of her compositions stem from these observed visual references and her glazes emphasize the wetness of the environment and its varied textures. Throughout the swamp, the blackwater reflects its surroundings with unsettling clarity, blurring boundaries and eliminating any hard edges. The artist channels the subsuming quality of this murky space to speculatively explore the intermingling between her body and the swamp itself.
Erin Jane Nelson, Sublunary (Installation View), via Chapter NY
Nelson’s work here as a result arrives at a jagged and expansive attempt at portraiture, creating, re-creating and re-framing a range of sites and objects from the space, giving them a new site and language to present themselves.
The show closes May 6th.
– D. Creahan
Read more:
Erin Jane Nelson at Chapter NY [Exhibition Site]
