For her new solo show at the Topanga Art Gallery, artist Caroline PM Jones has drawn her inspiration from the weathered stones of the Mojave Desert. “Formations: Joshua Tree Rocks” features paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and a video installation chronicling the artist’s journey into the Mojave Desert to interact with what she describes as “the monolithic, ancient and immovable.”
The painting and drawings en plein air convey the raw limitations and simplicity of line imposed by the natural editing process of time and light, a press release for the exhibit states. The studio canvasses reflect a more intimate experience of that time.
Caroline carved her own “Formations” out of stone, a process that allowed the artist to “travel across surfaces, spending time in the crevices, cutting the stone, chiseling the shapes, and sanding the form.” Her clay sculptures recreate the life cycle of the Mojave monoliths in the studio, firing sediments into stone in a process not unlike the origin of the rocks that are her inspiration.
The video that accompanies the show is a unifying element that “speaks to the off-grid experience, the strangeness that the desert offers with its soundscape and expansive land, its extreme climate and form.”
The Topanga Canyon Gallery is located in Pine Tree Circle, at 120 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Suite 109, Topanga. The show opens July 30, and runs through August 15. There is an opening reception on Saturday, July 31, from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Topanga Canyon Gallery is open Friday-Sunday, or by appointment. Visit www.topangacanyongallery.com for more information. To schedule an appointment, email cpmjteam@gmail.com
