
Rachel Owens: Mother
March 11 - April 15, 2017
Rachel Owens brings her signature process of casting shards of broken glass in resin to a little known yet seminal specimen of nature. The bulk of this mostly sculptural presentation is made from molds of the Alley Pond Giant, a 400-year-old tulip poplar tree located in Queens that could well pre-date European settlers. It is the oldest living thing in New York City. She renders strips of its husked skin in colored glass sourced from closeout bulk suppliers of mass produced bottles imported from China, a nod to the earliest large-scale production in colonial America (England’s strained forests could not sustain enough glass bottle kilns). The dimensions of each piece are limited by the reach of the artist herself, bringing a human scale to this monumental being. Owens states “The fortitude of the tree to withstand the development of modern society reminds us that there was always someone before and is also symbolic of migration, mothers, and spatial occupation.”