Pillows and Cradles

Our physical interactions with objects and spaces leave traces of ourselves even in our absence. This residual material evidence serves as a reminder of both our impermanence and our impact on the world around us. Intimate daily records, such as the impression of a head on a pillow, are small gestures akin to greater forces around us both natural and constructed, such as the redevelopment of established neighborhoods, or the destruction of a passing storm. In both instances there are traces of the past that remain even after monumental change. When we stop to take notice of the evidence of our daily lives, we become more attuned to the larger impacts of these larger forces around us. This awareness can create a simultaneous sense of comfort and anxiety.

Artists Todd Jones and Nathan Grimes explore these ideas in their exhibition, Pillows and Cradles. In this work “Layers of material and memory settle, accumulate, and upheave revealing a complex surface. This surface, like every surface, tells a story.” The artists ask us to consider “What does this story mean to you?” By incorporating found, often discarded objects, and embracing both their materiality and the stories these objects contain, the artists perform a transformative process, which works to communicate a complex narrative while blurring the boundaries of painting and sculpture. Both artists’ work conjures the idea of the law of contagion, a concept which suggests that contact between a person and an object results in the transference of properties between the two. With this idea in mind, the discarded house paint that Jones employs in his finished works, retains some aspect of the person and the home where it was initially used. Similarly, the broken shards of glass in Grimes’ sculpture contain some trace of the place from which they were sourced. This imbues the work with an air of mystery and familiarity that offers new possibilities for viewers to approach the material world.