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Letha Wilson — Hawaii Lava Bronze Pipe
Letha Wilson

Hawaii Lava Bronze Pipe

2021

Hawaii Lava Bronze Pipe presents a collision of geological time and industrial material, layering UV-printed photographic imagery of Hawaiian lava fields onto steel, then threading a bronze pipe through the composition in a gesture that is simultaneously structural and sculptural. The lava's ancient, slow-moving violence is held in tension with the precision of fabricated metal, inviting the viewer to consider how photographic documentation of landscape can be simultaneously flattened and given new dimension through physical intervention. Wilson treats the photograph not as a window but as a surface to be interrupted, pierced, and complicated by objects that carry their own weight and history. Wilson's practice has long been concerned with the ways photography fails to fully contain the natural world, and this work exemplifies that inquiry with particular elegance. The UV printing process allows the volcanic imagery to retain a vivid, almost hallucinatory intensity against the steel substrate, while the bronze pipe introduces a warm, aging material that speaks to geological processes in its own right. Bronze, like lava, is born of heat and transformation, and its presence here feels less like an imposition on the image than a continuation of the elemental forces depicted within it. At 83 by 63 by 7 centimeters, the work occupies a scale that is intimate without being modest, asserting itself confidently in a domestic or institutional setting. Signed by the artist and offered through Galerie Christophe Gaillard, Hawaii Lava Bronze Pipe represents a strong example of Wilson's mature approach to hybrid image-object making, a field in which she remains one of the most rigorous and compelling voices working today.

Medium
UV prints on steel, bronze, steel frame
Overall
Signed
Yes
Location
Galerie Christophe Gaillard, Paris

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About this work

Letha Wilson, Hawaii Lava Bronze Pipe, 2021

Hawaii Lava Bronze Pipe presents a collision of geological time and industrial material, layering UV-printed photographic imagery of Hawaiian lava fields onto steel, then threading a bronze pipe through the composition in a gesture that is simultaneously structural and sculptural. The lava's ancient, slow-moving violence is held in tension with the precision of fabricated metal, inviting the viewer to consider how photographic documentation of landscape can be simultaneously flattened and given new dimension through physical intervention. Wilson treats the photograph not as a window but as a surface to be interrupted, pierced, and complicated by objects that carry their own weight and history. Wilson's practice has long been concerned with the ways photography fails to fully contain the natural world, and this work exemplifies that inquiry with particular elegance. The UV printing process allows the volcanic imagery to retain a vivid, almost hallucinatory intensity against the steel substrate, while the bronze pipe introduces a warm, aging material that speaks to geological processes in its own right. Bronze, like lava, is born of heat and transformation, and its presence here feels less like an imposition on the image than a continuation of the elemental forces depicted within it. At 83 by 63 by 7 centimeters, the work occupies a scale that is intimate without being modest, asserting itself confidently in a domestic or institutional setting. Signed by the artist and offered through Galerie Christophe Gaillard, Hawaii Lava Bronze Pipe represents a strong example of Wilson's mature approach to hybrid image-object making, a field in which she remains one of the most rigorous and compelling voices working today.

Medium
UV prints on steel, bronze, steel frame
Dimensions
overall: 83 x 63 x 7 cm
Year
2021
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
Galerie Christophe Gaillard, Paris

Related themes

Steel, Bronze, Photography, Mid-Career, Geological, Conceptual, Installation, American, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Place, Landscape, Dark Tones, Environmentalism, Nature, Unique, Monochromatic, Hybrid Media, Female Artist, Contemporary

More works by Letha Wilson

Collected by

Gavin Kennedy