Wilding Cran Gallery is pleased to present Muddy Water, a solo exhibition of new sculptures by Karon Davis. This show takes it’s name from Bessie Smith’s 1927 recording of Muddy Water, a song about the Great Mississippi Flood. The body of work reflects on the effects of climate change, and subsequent migration and displacement, offering a glimpse into the experiences people encounter during natural disasters.

Davis continues to work with full scale plaster-cast figures. Intentionally their armatures remain visible, juxtaposing the inner strength of the sculptures against their fragile exteriors; she likens the process to ‘reassembling broken souls'. Some of the figures are inspired by images Davis discovered while reading news coverage of the recent events in Montecito, Puerto Rico & Houston (to name but a few), others are imagined from personal experience of evacuating her home during the 2017 Thomas Fire.

Woven into the exhibition as a whole is the sense of immediacy, crisis and loss, which is drawn from having to abandon cherished property in the blink of an eye. Muddy Water is Karon Davis' second solo exhibition at Wilding Cran Gallery.