In the latest dearantler show, we pay homage to nature's grandest cathedrals, its most heavenward sacred spaces: mountains. From the most inviting and verdant summits, to inhospitable thin-aired peaks far above timberline, mountains offer weary human souls a dose of the grandiose, a chance for renewal, a baptismal reconnection to our primeval roots of wandering lands high and low.
As with every dearantler show, this one loosely borrows its title from a Hitchcock film. But what's this about troubles? Well, humans have a certain propensity to collect problems, experience various traumas and generally carry a variety of troubles with them. We at dearantler are firm believers in the healing, connective powers of the outdoors. We see mountains as an antidote. Somehow, the troubles we carry have a way of dissipating when, instead of being weighed down by this proverbial baggage, we carry all we need on our backs and boil human existence down to its most elemental. In a fitting ritual of repentance that we had the opportunity to experience trekking in the Peruvian Andes, hikers choose a rock of a size fitting their sins or regrets and carry it up to a mountain pass at above 15,000', where they place it on a pile of other hikers' rocks. Whether or not your mountain ritual includes such a literal act, the mountains are sure to help rid you of whatever is weighing you down.
But we have one more musing to offer on the topic -- one that may resonate with those who have any backpacking experience. Just about anyone who tries backpacking is liable to pack in excess at first, a mistake that generally either leads one to give up entirely, or to engage in a never-ending pursuit for going lighter and lighter. The experience that usually does one in involves a combination of excruciating pain and emotional misery, accompanied by incessant voices in one's head saying things like, "why are you doing this?" and "now you finally know how Sysiphus felt, you good-for-nothing, pathetic, scrawny excuse for a hiker." If this experience strikes a chord with you, then perhaps the troubles you carry are all your own doing. In that case, we suggest you turn to cartoonist Mike Clelland for some humorous yet philosophical musings on ultralight backpacking.
elements of existence - 6 abstract etchings on the essence of mountains
Edith's series of etchings conveys the wilderness experience stripped down to its most elemental. The images show aspects of what one might enjoy if time were allowed to slow down and perception to become attuned in the mountains. In a departure from more traditional, representational imagery, the etchings offer abstract, simplistic, stylized interpretations of things both tangible and formless: rain, elevation, light, stillness, distance, and connection.
this must be the place - 6 collage paintings
Jolly's series presents six vibrant photo-strip collage paintings on panel showing structures in remote mountain locations. The compositions are minimal, showing only sky, mountain and structure. But these three elements together present a great deal. A colorful yet turbulent sky is set against an undulating mountainside, conveying a sense of movement. Nestled on each mountain is a structure of a different sort which calmly grounds the scene, offering sanctuary on a long journey -- an observatory, the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, and a ski hut, among others. The works are composed of pieces of photographs, representing fragments of memories one gives or takes, remnants of the past just like the structures.