Nasturtium with Gold

View Similar Items

Nina Bovasso - Purple Orb 2 with Spinning, Flying Disks

Nina Bovasso - Purple Mound 1 with red violet discs

Philip Wittmann - Willingness

Philip Wittmann - Sense- a unique ink on paper painting

Philip Wittmann - Lust

Lynne Fernie - Forest at Night - large, dark, smokey, gestural, atmospheric acrylic on paper

Joanna Cutri - SOLACE

Jan Pieter Fokkens - "NGC-3201, " Acrylic on Canvas, 2019

Jan Pieter Fokkens - "VFTS-682, " Ink on Paper, 2020

Jan Pieter Fokkens - "NGC-6397, " Pigment Ink on Paper, 2019

Cheryl R. Riley - Vision I by Cheryl R. Riley, purple, gray, gold abstract geometric symbols

Cheryl R. Riley - Black & Gold Glyphs I by Cheryl R. Riley, metallic abstract geometric symbols

1 of 3

Katina Huston
Nasturtium with Gold
2014

About the Item

Huston’s primary subject over the past decade has been shadows cast by objects—from bicycle wheels to musical instruments, glassware, and now, skeletons—hung from the studio ceiling. By casting light through these objects and drawing from their projection, Huston channels energy from a zipping bicycle, ascending scales, sparkling crystal, and the weightiness of bone “without actually naming that experience.” Her handling compels the viewer into familiar objects stretched and distended out of visual recognition. Because skeletons are loaded with meaning, there is the potential to misread Huston’s drawings as morbid or Jerry Garcia-esque. Huston, however, is more concerned with processes of history and memory on physical objects, many of which carry the patina of their previous owner’s experiences. When Huston was young, her father organized some of the first post-war underwater archeology expeditions. Following his death, her childhood home was littered with ephemera both ancient and less so: Etruscan fibulae mingled with a Stanford yearbook from 1928 while a Roman short sword made an unexpected bedfellow with bank books from Iowa. In this way, the skeleton is a placeholder for the presence of others passed in our day-to-day lives. It figures less as momento mori, that is, a warning that the viewer’s end is not far off, but a friendly reminder of all the feet that have walked this path. Lively foliage overlays and sometimes submerges the figures, complicating the scene and forcing the viewer to choose between iconographies. Unlike the bicycle and instrument drawings, many of Huston’s skeleton drawings offer a single skeletal element as opposed to multiple overlapping forms. In these works, the figure interlaces with the unexpectedly vibrant shadows of flora and fauna. Swatches of colorful, patterned fabrics are rendered directly from the material to ground the shadowy contours of the skeletons and plant life. Diverse textures and densities play off each other, pushing some objects to the fore while occluding others. Huston explains: “I have a choice. Do I want something to push against the shadows, or run over it? This choice either gives weight to the thing, or erases it. In the end, all we have are resolutions. Every time I make a decision, I force the viewer to let go of something and grab something else. The viewer chooses how these pieces resolve in the eye.”

Creator:
Katina Huston
Creation Year:
2014
Dimensions:
Height: 46 in (116.84 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)
Medium:
Archival Ink
Movement & Style:
Contemporary
Period:
21st Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
San Francisco, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: G140402308106