As a Seed Imagines a Flower – Holly Coley and Liz Walsh

Eleanor Harwood Gallery is delighted to present As a Seed Imagines A Flower with Holly Coley and Liz Walsh.

Walsh’s painting and Coley’s ceramics contain imagined prehistoric flora and fauna painted and made of clay. Both artists use materials to better understand inner and outer worlds of the human into a world where centaurs roam portals of lush prehistoric still life.

Both artists play with ideas of reimagined history fed by imagination and past experiences. These articulations include fantastical creatures and landscapes that blend seamlessly with elements of antiquity and plant worlds through paintings and developed forms and objects made of clay.

Liz’s intricate tableaux transport us to a realm where plant and animal motifs are intertwined. By pushing the boundaries of the space and filling the compositions with pop elements and overgrown gardens, Walsh represents an internal landscape that is filled with spirits, technology and sometimes the entropy of our world. These themes appear in her work in the depiction of cockpits, mythic animals and exaggerated fauna. These combinations hope to entice and repulse the viewer, leading to a familiar yet unreal portrayal of the world.

Holly delves into the depths of reimagined history, infusing her creations with a sense of genesis. Her work challenges us to reconsider our notions of the past, a glimpse into a world where ancient creatures and icons are laid into new reliefs of clay. Her playful forms manifest into strong vessels which have a classical quality. Her work is so skillfully made that it’s easy to miss how much handwork has gone into making the pieces. Their perfection looks almost machine-like. Closer looking reveals her hand.

Together, these artists play with the boundaries of reality and notions attached to certain objects. They are exploring the inner and outer worlds of the human experience, through their creations, and they prompt us to question our assumptions and delve into the possibilities that exist at the intersection of art and history. These narratives hope to transcend time and space, considering the different states of the human condition and the possibilities that lie within our imaginations.

Artist Bios
Born in LA county and raised in the desert of Southern California, Holly Coley comes from a family of artists and craftspeople. Her clay practice is informed by drawing and painting, and her work is inspired by modern and ancient art, invented mythologies, 1990s, and the Satanic Panic. She treats the surfaces of her pots as a canvas for her narrative illustration style. She is a teaching artist and small business owner, and she owns a pottery studio in SF called Pinckney Clay.

Liz Walsh currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, previously living and working for many years in San Francisco.
Inspired by the plant life and city sprawl of California, Walsh’s intricate tableaux transport us to a realm where plant and animal motifs are intertwined. By pushing the boundaries of the space and packing the compositions with pop elements and overgrown gardens, she represents an internal landscape that is filled with spirits, technology and sometimes the entropy of our world. These themes appear in her work in the depiction of cockpits, mythic animals and exaggerated fauna. These collisions hope to entice and repulse the viewer, leading to a familiar yet unreal portrayal of the world, relying on emotional cues for direction.
Liz works in a variety of materials including clay, video and painting.