It Holds Us All
Jemila MacEwan

Jemila MacEwan is a New York-based artist who utilizes disparate media—performance, photography, video, painting, and sculpture—to define internal states of becoming as physical transformations. It Holds Us All, an installation of seven sculptures inspired by her recent research in volcanoes and active geothermal activity, will be presented on the third floor of Pioneer Works from April 9 through May 14, 2017.

MacEwan returns clay to the form of its geological origin by harnessing organic materials such as wood-fired stoneware, porcelain, Icelandic volcanic ash, wood, and cement. Moreover, the series contemplates geological states of becoming as reflections of the erotic experience, resisting the moral, pornographic, and possessive meanings that have been ascribed to it. It Holds Us All offers an alternative approach to engaging with landscape through a personal encounter with the sensual, bodily qualities of geological flux. By avoiding direct depictions of the body, the work seeks to express the erotic beyond the confines of gender and identity.