Commodity: Gin Stone Installation

Twenty Summers

Artist talk & reception celebrating "Commodity", art installation of life-size animals created by the local artist Gin Stone. An allegorical art installation employing life-size animals created by the artist Gin Stone in a ‘diorama’ that explores the environmental consequences of patriarchal-driven capitalism through human evolution. The unfolding artwork advances its timeline with each consecutive install location it occupies, the results of which are an evolving narrative. In three acts, the installation creates an apt metaphor for the exploitation of living beings, the environment, and ultimately, the planet. The Hawthorne Barn is the setting for the initial installation or 'act'. Gin Stone was born in 1971 in Binghamton, NY. She now lives and works in studio based on coastal Massachusetts. She is a transdisciplinary artist using sculpture, installation and science to convey themes regarding nature and myth. She attended the Hartford Art School. With work that conveys environmental activism while incorporating material based sub-text, animals become allegorical characters used to highlight - and reject- women and nature as commodities exploited by a largely patriarchal capitalist society (ecofeminism). Stone’s creatures are created with materials including commercially fished line, ghost gear, recycled and antique textiles as well as found objects. Her work has explored the myth of ancient religion and goddess worship, channeling her immense interest in myth and mysticism. The resulting effect is a cocktail of politics, culture, history and ritual, inhabiting the space of its viewers with intrigue while inspiring thoughtful dialogue of how texture can be both physical as well as abstract. The beauty inherent in nature is brought to life to craft a portrait of meaning and movement, while building chapters on evolution and ecology.