Exhibition: Martha Russo

2024 EXHIBITION

Martha Russo

phase shift (wattling LHR) 2024
plastic netted hay wattles, biodegradable hay wattles, silt socks, hardware, rebar, wood, sand

In 2013, there was a devasting flood in Boulder County, Colorado. For a year and a half, while the canyon road was being rebuilt to our home, I became enchanted with something called a wattle. Wattles are plastic netted tubes that are filled with hay or shredded aspen trees used for erosion control. Wattles are staked into the ground to stabilize newly groomed contours and surfaces in constructed landscaping.

The concept behind phase shift/ (wattling LHR) is to free the wattles from their occupational gravity of being still against the surface of the earth. Here in the ethereal LHR sculpture garden, the wattles are given a new life of whimsy and loftiness to create unexpected conversations with each other, the viewer, and the energy of the art-charged landscape.

The title, phase shift/ (wattling LHR), comes from the scientific process of phase change, which is a conversion of material from one state to another: i.e., solids to liquids, liquids to gas. The core concept is to shift the once static, grounded wattle to a new phase of movement and lightness related more to liquids and gas.

Fabrication Assistants: Lead; Elizabeth Faulhaber, Otto Baris, Jack Klein, Willa Levine, Annakin Petruccelli, Nikki Pike, Sammi Pike, Beth Rowland, Fenn Zimmer 
Wattle Supplier: US Silt & Site Supply; Bow, New Hampshire

All photos courtesy of the Artist

Martha Russo

Martha Russo

Martha Russo

Martha Russo

Martha Russo

Martha Russo

Martha Russo

Martha Russo