OTHER ONE
In Other One, Patricia Vernhes opens a dialogue with what she calls the “other one”.
An ongoing collection of sculptural work and a study into object-oriented ontology, Vernhes encases objects in plaster and epoxy in order to recast our understanding of memory, utility, and existence.
These objects—heirlooms and found objects alike—are conduits for both personal and universal memories. Like a family chess set, passed down over generations, or a piece of basalt, one of the oldest forms of solidification, excavated from the surrounding hills.
Vernhes asks the fundamental question: If you remove an object from its environment, will it be missed? Through removal and recasting, Vernhes initiates an action that has the potential to reverberate through nature, time, and memory, all while questioning the role of human perception.
The project is not about the objects themselves but also their removal, placement, surrounding light, and juxtaposition to nature.
The photos in Other One are the result of collaboration with Karolina Markiewicz, a friend and photographer, on location in Joshua Tree, California.
Lungs
Black lava rocks from the Black Lava Butte veins that run through the surrounding area.
They are cast in plaster and epoxy closely resembling human organs. Fossilized. Calcified. Rigid. All the things we don’t want them to be that happen inside of us as we grow older.
Made during the pandemic lockdown, and after reading about what happens to the lungs when infected with COVID-19, they took on new meaning, specificity, and grief.
Lava rock, acrylic plaster, epoxy resin, wood.
14" x 14" x 10"
Venus
River rock found further east near Landers and the borders of Johnson Valley, where it is mostly dry lakebed.
River rock, acrylic plaster.
Approx. 12" x 10", 55 lbs
The Naked Woman
Constructed during lockdown and amidst more #MeToo news, this wooden assemblage symbolizes vulnerability and the demand for transparency. I used wood in the way contractors use it to build houses, but then I decided to not carry on with mesh and plaster like I would if this was indeed a house.
There is safety provided by a home, a solid structure, a building code, regulations and principles of architecture—here is exactly the building tool for portraying the opposite.
Mixed wood & plywood, wood stain, linseed oil, putty.
12” x 14” x 27”
In Memory of Risk
Pachinko (Japanese pinball machine, circa 1960), assemblage. plaster, paint, wood, glass.
Plaster, paint, wood, glass.
24” x 6” x 35”
Remember To Take Risk
Pachinko (Japanese pinball machine, circa 1960), assemblage
Plaster, paint, wood, glass, wire.
24” x 6” x 33”
Les Premiers Pas (The First Steps)
This is a camera my mother was given by her father 50 years ago. My mother used it to take photos of my first steps as a child.
Camera, assemblage, plaster.
3” x 1.5” x 7”
Lawless
This antique chess set is probably mid-19th Century or earlier. The figures depict Mayan warriors and Spanish conquistadors. By altering its color, it became a playground to a change of the rules from a checkered board to an equal division of opposites.
Antique chess set, resin, plaster, paint, wood.
24" x 24" x 12"
