1708 Gallery is pleased to present Molly Lowe’s first feature-length film REDWOOD along with related sculpture installations. The title REDWOOD references an ancient tree species which self-replicates; when one specimen dies, it clones itself through surrounding saplings born of its root system. The film is a time-travel family drama featuring a young woman receiving a memory transplant from her grandmother who is in a vegetative state in a Mnemogenic Center.

Prompted in part by an old photograph of Lowe’s grandmother, Lowe distorts memories passed down to her from her grandmother and family members as almost photographic tableaux, affected by empathy, imagination, and the unreliable lens of memory. Hand-made masks that depict one woman aging from adolescence to obsolescence are worn by all characters throughout the film; the masks collapse Lowe’s identity with those of the other female family members, making character dynamics and plot lines intentionally ambiguous.

REDWOOD is highly influenced by traditional Noh Theater, which relies on masks to represent phantom beings, caught between life and death. Also with nods to Japanese horror, the Soviet avant-garde, Cronenberg-style science fiction, and 90s classics such as Fried Green Tomatoes and A Princess Bride, Lowe intertwines genres to tap into cultural nostalgia as a vehicle to tell her own personal narratives.

REDWOOD was commissioned by Pioneer Works gallery (Brooklyn, NY) where it was shown as part of a large scale installation in early 2016.  

Molly Lowe (b. 1983, Palo Alto, CA) combines sculpture, painting, performance, video, and installation to play with many themes relating to the awkwardness of living in a human body, and the way different psychological states can change the physical. She received her MFA from Columbia University and her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and has been included in exhibitions and residencies, both internationally and in the US, including Recess Art, Skowhegan, Shandaken, SculptureCenter, Suzanne Geiss, Pioneer Works, JOAN and Performa 13. She recently received the NYFA 2015 interdisciplinary artist fellowship award.

Reception for the artist will be held October 27, 5 - 8pm.

REDWOOD runs on the hour everyday! 

For more information, please visit the links below:

REDWOOD Trailer