Nancy Hoffman Gallery’s first fall Projects Space exhibition is entitled “Dominion,” by Seattle artist Mark Calderon, featuring cast bronze and lead sculpture. The show opens on September 9th and continues through October 19th.
“Dominion” is traditionally defined as sovereignty over the earth... Read more
Nancy Hoffman Gallery’s first fall Projects Space exhibition is entitled “Dominion,” by Seattle artist Mark Calderon, featuring cast bronze and lead sculpture. The show opens on September 9th and continues through October 19th.
“Dominion” is traditionally defined as sovereignty over the earth, but Calderon suggests a broader definition of the term, which embraces the series with responsibility that comes with power.
Nature and death have been recurring themes throughout Calderon’s career and many of these recent sculptures draw inspiration from several species of animals that have become extinct. Small-scale and vulnerable, these sculptures draw attention to the relationship between these creatures and our use and abuse of the environment. A hummingbird hovers in mid-flight, an overturned tortoise struggles to right itself and skinks cling to each other in a haunting embrace.
Most of the works are cast in lead, which has a deadly reputation and occupies a low status in the hierarchy of metals. Frozen in this base metal, traditionally used to cast bullets and toy soldiers, the animal forms have a dull, cold luster, which seems to absorb light itself.
