The Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) is excited to announce the opening of Made in the Mojave on May 13, with a public reception from 4-6 p.m. The exhibition will be on display until July 30. From April 17 to May 12 MOAH will be dark, prior to the opening reception on May 13.
Made in the Mojave celebrates the subtle beauty, rich history, and plentiful resources of the Mojave Desert. Made in the Mojave focuses on the landscape interpreted through a variety of media, from painting, to photography, to social practice, this exhibition is sure to awaken within visitors a new found appreciation for the nuanced splendor of the desert. Featured solo exhibits include artists Samantha Fields, Kim Stringfellow, Carol Es, Catherine Ruane, Aline Mare, Ron Pinkerton, Nicolas Shake, and a site specific installations by Randi Hokett and local artist Marthe Aponte. This exhibition expands our idea of the desert and its relevance in our daily lives. In addition to the professional artist presentations the Museum is honored to highlight the work of R. Rex Parris High School students’ Wasteland project on the rooftop terrace. MOAH’s Green Initiative Wasteland project was led by Los Angeles artist Nicolas Shake working in conjunction with R. Rex Parris High School art instructor Kris Holladay and her students.
After over 1000 hours, artist Catherine Ruane completed an ambitious, large scale drawing for the upcoming exhibition “Made in Mojave” opening at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, Saturday May 13. The drawing focuses on thriving plants found at the edge of the world and tells the story of the relationship between a Joshua Tree blossom and a tiny moth.
“Made in Mojave” is the inaugural exhibition for The Mojave Project, a multiyear project exploring the physical, geographical and cultural landscape of the Mojave Desert. Ruane’s work focuses on the intricate complexity of nature as a reflection of our own human experience. She recognizes that overarching constructs, such as time, bind us together. Like the blossom and the moth, we share a space in time.
This ambitious large scale work consists of 12 individual round drawings 12” in diameter that surround a large scale 50” drawing. The central drawing features a Joshua Tree which represents “a metaphor for our own survival” as well as the delicate balance of cooperation and time to bring on new life. This theme of cooperation and a natural balance is further reinforced by Ruane who has laid out the 12” roundel drawings around the center like a clock. For this work, she emphasizes time as part of the process. Ruane notes that her drawings were created over 1000 hours in her studio studying and meticulously capturing the details of the blossom and moth. Like her subject of study, she has found simplicity in her process using the basics of drawing coupled with time.
Ruane has exhibited throughout the United States and Europe most recently showing at the Startup Art Fair in Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825, Beyond Baroque, and Phantom Gallery. Her work is included in several collections including the University of AZ Art Museum.
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