November 11, 2005
Contact and writer: Deb Banerjee (435) 797-8207
NORA ECCLES
HARRISON MUSEUM OF ART AT UTAH
STATE UNIVERSITY PRESENTS “AQUAGENESIS”
LOGAN — Coiled vipers, slinking lizards, scaly fish and water flora appear in a realistic pond shaped as a bowl, ready to be set on the table, in the ceramic basins of Utah artist Maryann Webster. The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, located on the campus of Utah State University in Logan , presents the exhibition “AquaGenesis” with works by Webster that focus on the conflict between nature and unbridled technology.
The exhibit is now open and can be seen through May 1, 2006.
“Genetic modification, insecticides, herbicides and chemical contamination of the environment are irrevocably altering nature today,” said Webster.
Using a technique of casting leaves, shells, small animals and nature objects and then molding them in porcelain, Webster creates a miniature world gone awry. In “Monsanto Pond,” a fish with chicken feet confronts a snake, while lizards scurry about in the pond plants. The inspiration for the work is an actual event in which a deformed fish caught in a pond was later determined to have been exposed to PCB’s, a group of chemicals that causes genetic mutations, birth defects and cancer. The style of the bowl is reminiscent of the work of Bernard Palissy, 1510-1590, a French artist who sought to realistically portray natural history scenes in ceramic basins.
In “Dying Reef,” the artist represents a prediction by marine biologists that the world’s coral reefs could disappear, along with the sea life they support, in the next 20 years.
Mixing religious iconography with bioethical concerns, Webster also creates reliquaries which mourn the lost species of the earth. Reliquaries are sacred objects, originally designed to hold bones, body parts or personal items of dead saints. In “Lost Garden Reliquary,” a porcelain box represents images of a destroying angel, Adam and Eve, a mushroom cloud and the B-29 bombers that dropped the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Inside are the remains of nature: leaves, shells and a snake.
The artist quotes a fragment of a poem by Garcia-Lorca: “Another day we shall see a resurrection of dried butterflies” to reflect her thoughts about the careless application of science and its impact on nature.
For more information about this or any of the museum’s exhibits, or to schedule a tour of the museum, call (435) 797-0165.
The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum
of Art is located on the USU campus at 650 North 1100 East, Logan,
Utah, 84322 , (435) 797-0163, Fax (435) 797-3423, http://www.artmuseum.usu.edu.
The museum is open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.; Wednesday,
10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, noon-4 p.m. The museum is closed Sundays, Mondays
and major holidays. Admission is free. The museum is accessible to persons
with disabilities.
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