Sarah Nance: an inventory of moons
October 27 – December 2, 2017
1708 Gallery is pleased to present an inventory of moons, a solo exhibition of work by Sarah Nance, Assistant Professor in Fibres & Material Practices at Concordia University in Montréal. an inventory of moons entangles lunar, anthropocenic, and earthly geologies to create a de-centered experience of place. It draws heavily from exogeology, the study of geological features and processes to understand celestial rocky bodies. Installation, image, and sound represent the moon as an errant satellite, a harbinger of dystopia, and a catalyst for erosion. Through an inventory of moons, Nance hopes to articulate the experience of looking well beneath the surface of the earth and our presence within it, in order to simultaneously reach beyond it.
For the exhibition, Nance constructed and documented relationships between light, geology, and time— elements that contribute to our understanding of place. In Nance’s site-responsive installations, she utilizes the geology of each chosen site through found natural materials such as rock, sea ice, and sand. As a result, these works are uniquely about place. She creates large-scale fabrics through the accumulative processes of weaving or beading, as integral components of recent installations. These couplings of handwork with natural formations embrace the temporal fluctuations between the human and the geologic. an inventory of moons also includes several sound pieces by collaborator Burke Jam.
Nance has exhibited site-specific work in Canada, Iceland, Ireland, among others. Nance’s recent exhibitions include Antenna in New Orleans, LA; TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary, AB; Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum in San Antonio, TX; and SÍM Gallery in Reykjavík, Iceland; with an upcoming solo exhibition at FOFA Gallery in Montréal, QC. Recent awards include the La Soupée Project Grant (Galerie Diagonale), and the Third Culture Conversations Grant (Oregon Arts Commission).
The opening reception will be on Friday, October 27, 2017 from 6 - 8pm, with an artist talk on Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 11-1pm.