With the lens on Sam Newton’s work there is transformation through the narrative of personal truth. Departing from her previous exploration into classical self portraiture during the pregnancy of her first child, Newton embarks on representational studies of horses to serve for her disposition. Threading both a reference for wild horses as symbolic of power and freedom together with her newfound shift into the anxiety and tension of motherhood, her work cartoons these animals. The horses are stretched out and unstable in their new condition and forced into tight compositions. When animated with another figure they either clash with their opponent or buckle under the weight of their impression. The pressure of their environmental constraints transform their typical triumphant representation in art history to better represent a bridled mother of now under the struggles of daily routine and larger political and societal oppression.

From personal truth to fictional narrative, the transformation found in the work of Emily Llamazales reflects an interpretation of text. Her newest ceramics are a response to Aase Berg’s poem, ‘Mörk Materia’, an epic that constructs a post-apocalyptic vision of Earth with a new order of biology during post-radiation and post-climate disaster. The ceramics are collaged with fragments of information about this world, transformed through the accumulation of shells, rocks, twisted metals and scars of inflicted surface textures. They become coding for the artifacts of this environment, lending disparate data to the alien terrain of a fictional proverb for what could be our current climate crisis and future adaptation. This is nuanced by the awareness of hands on manipulation within these shapes: there is a thoughtful design in the foreboding of this new world. It becomes more of a decisive reflection and study on the transition of surroundings rather than actual fragment, evocative of the translated emotive vision into representation present with Newton’s work as well. Both artists, inspired from their narratives, are creating illustrations of their environmental discomfort.

Cleo the Gallery is pleased to note that this two person show is a continuation of our commitment to showcase emerging talent from the Southern United States.

— Jeanette McCune, Director of CLEO the Gallery