GREEN ARCHIVES
March 13 - April 24, 2021
Laura Grothaus and Shelley Picot explore themes of nature and storytelling through sculpture, video, painting, and additional 2D works made in collaboration with Art Enables artists Mara Clawson, Egbert “Clem” Evans, Debora Green, Vanessa Monroe, Gary Murrell, and Imani Turner. The exhibition considers the natural world as an index of living symbols and archetypes human beings have used over and over throughout history to tell and retell the stories that define us. The small husks of nascent seeds, twining tendrils of growing plants, the presence of pollinators, and the bodies of dogs, bears, and other animals - these images feel ripe with mythic potential, an elemental vocabulary ready to be shaped into new narratives.
Click images to see artwork detail page and/or purchase work online (some visiting artist artwork will be unavailable post-exhibition)
Laura Grothaus *Red Ballad, 2020gouache on paper50 x 114 in
*This piece was commissioned as part of the collaborative performance project, Red Ballad. It owes a debt of gratitude to the artists involved: Rae Red (director), Rain, Kim Le, Theresa Columbus, and Maura Dwyer.
Shelley PicotDogrock, 2021paper clay, acrylic32 x 24 x 5 in
Laura GrothausThe Wild Inviting, 2021gouache on paper50 x 38 in
Shelley Picot
Relics, 2021paper clay, acrylic, colored pencil and other media~ 27 x 43 in.
Shelley Picot, Praylien Drawings
Top row: Neck, 2021, acrylic, gesso, and graphite on paper, 7.5 x 5.5 in
Middle row: Shrek Finger, 2020, acrylic and graphite on paper, 11 x 7.5 in; Looking Up, 2020, acrylic, gesso and graphite on paper, 11 x 7.5 in; Eurgh, 2019, acrylic and graphite on paper, 11 x 7.5 in
Bottom row: Flower Prayer, 2020, acrylic and graphite on paper, 5.5 x 3.75 in; Alien in Forest, 2020, acrylic and pen on paper, 11 x 7.5 in; Praylien in Repose, colored pencil on paper, 6.5 x 5 in
Shelley Picot Praylien, 2021 single-channel video with sound
continuous loop, 00:04:42
Shelley PicotParadise Well, 2021paper clay, acrylic, colored pencil24 x 24 x 3 in
Above: individual and collaborative drawings. Click titles below for full artwork info and expanded view (where available):Top row: Shelley Picot, Flower Portal; Laura Grothaus, RapunzelMiddle row: Debora Green & Shelley Picot, Forest Bathers; Debora Green & Laura Grothaus, Plant Animal; Laura Grothaus, Fiddlehead; Shelley Picot, Little BloomerBottom row: Shelley Picot, Dog in Flowers; Shelley Picot, Sprouting Wand; Shelley Picot, Twig; Mara Clawson & Shelley Picot, Tideline Surprises; Shelley Picot: ;__; ; Alien Face; Drawing for Dogrock; Drawing for Clearbell Grotto; Blue Test; Tree Ghost
Imani Turner & Laura Grothaus
Collaborative drawing (Bees), 2021
graphite on paper
14 x 11 in
$250
LAURA GROTHAUS is a Baltimore-based writer and visual artist. Interested in the politics of magic and memory, she’s at work on a hybrid manuscript exploring queerness and childhood and a novel about singing bones. Her collaborations with musicians, activists, performers, and visual artists have spawned theatre about the environmental crisis, workshops about our bodies’ maps, and more. You can find her online at LauraGrothaus.com.
SHELLEY PICOT (b. 1990, Alexandria, Virginia) is an artist working in sculpture, new media, and drawing. She has exhibited in the DC area at Betty Mae Kramer Gallery, Willow Street Gallery, Kaplan Gallery of VisArts, and the District of Columbia Arts Center; in Philadelphia at AUTOMAT; and online at Big Toe Gallery; among others. Her honors include grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council, as well as a residency and merit grant from the Vermont Studio Center. She received a BA in Studio Art from Mount Holyoke College and currently lives and works in Montgomery County, Maryland. shelleypicot.com
To learn more about the Art Enables resident artists in this exhibition, please visit their artist pages:
MARA CLAWSON | DEBORA GREEN | EGBERT "CLEM" EVANS | VANESSA MONROE | GARY MURRELL | IMANI TURNER