I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.

(Nathaniel Hawthorne)

Mindy Solomon is pleased to present Clippings and Hard Fruit, a solo exhibition of the work of artist David Hicks. The show opens Saturday May 20th from 6-9 pm, and runs through August 5th, 2017.

I am drawn to the forms and processes that inform my surrounding landscape. Regrettably, I find myself looking at nature from a distance, separated through an abnormal mechanism that keeps me physically disconnected but visually immersed. Confined in my vehicle I commute through the California agricultural heartland, experiencing the landscape locked behind auto glass. My predicament is a byproduct of a life filled with constant movement and the artificial landscape of steel and concrete I work within. This current body of work reflects a growing response to my personal detachment from the natural world. Obsessing upon the missing elements I’m segregated from, I engage natural forms to fill a personal void. The fruits of my fixation are the presented clippings and forms that make up Clippings and Hard Fruit. Manifested from the truth of my surroundings, generated by my need for the organic, Clippings and Hard Fruit is a response to my environmental quagmire.

(David Hicks)

Hicks will activate the full gallery space with wall works, sculptural installations and tabletop pieces, exploring his interpretation of the flora and fauna of the California landscape. The artist will be present at the opening.