Art, Nature, and Material in Phillip Shore’s Exhibition
If you get a chance, swing by the Upper Gallery in the Art Village and take a look at the exhibition “Forging Ahead” by sculpture professor Phillip Shore.
Shore has worked at the University of Dallas for 22 years and is now retiring. Through sculptural pieces, his exhibition deals, he said, “with humans’ relationship with the natural world, whether it’s positive or negative.”
When asked about his approach to creating the pieces for the exhibition, Shore said, “I worked with so many different materials. I have a passion for working with wood, and then I wanted to incorporate images, so I started playing around with image transfers. But it isn’t necessarily perfect. It has that haziness. So there’s a lot of experimentation.”
The exhibition consists of diorama-like pieces made primarily from wood, metal leaf, stone and paint. Shore uses a mix of natural materials, most of which come from his backyard, and mechanical tools, such as a laser printer, to show man’s complex relationship to nature through the medium, not just through the content.
This is especially evident in his piece “Divide.” It is a diptych of sorts, and in the background there is an image of train tracks going between mountains represented through ink on metal leaf. In the foreground is a three-dimensional sculpture made of thin, smooth pieces of wood, which mimics the railroad. Stones are fitted carefully in between the thin wood pieces.
Though they initially seem disconnected, the background and foreground are actually very similar. In the image — the train track, plowing through the stony mountains — is made of metal and wood. And Shore chose wood, metal and stone to be the medium of his piece.
In his artist statement, Shore said that he believes there is an “interconnectedness of all that exists.” This idea takes form in “Divide,” which not only explores the connection between man and nature broadly through expansion, but also Shore’s individual relationship as artist to his medium.
Shore also contemplates the relationship between mechanical creations and natural ones. In “Constructing Nature,” he uses natural material — wood — and mechanical methods — laser etching — to lead the viewer to contemplate the role of technology in nature.
In “Constructing Nature,” an image of a crane moving a moth’s cocoon is etched into the wooden background. Also made from wood is a sculpture of a leaf, on which is an image of a building. By mixing the natural and the mechanical content of the piece in a surprising way, Shore further urges the viewer to ponder man’s relationship with nature.
Shore’s work explores a tension between man’s oneness with nature and his finding his place in it.
Shore also explores his personal relationship with nature. He says, “I have a certain philosophy that all artwork is, in a sense, autobiographical, because it comes through us as individuals.” His pieces include photos of friends’ houses and flowers from his backyard, and a map of his hometown. Even most of the wood, which he cut and dried himself, is from local trees, and the stones are from his house.
In response to a question about why he creates art, Shore said, “It’s human nature. It’s part of our makeup. I love working in the studio. Being an artist is not an easy way of life, but boy, is it rewarding.”
Although the reception honoring Shore’s work and retirement was cancelled due to inclement weather, it has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 11 — there will be free food and free art, and neither is resistible!