Sharon Kilfoy, TetraPAKMAN

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Sharon Kilfoy

From the exhibit "Foragings Forged in the Inferno."

From the exhibit "Foragings Forged in the Inferno."

The Jackie Macaulay Gallery hosts paired exhibits considering the effects of climate change on our planet’s living creatures. TetraPAKMAN’s sculpture and other large-format works often focus on raising awareness of climate change, and this exhibit includes “The Climate Sheets,” wrapping around the gallery space and including records of the ever-raising level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Rising global temperatures contribute to a higher danger of wildfires; Sharon Kilfoy shows some concrete examples of what fire does with a collection of objects recovered following a 2016 fire at Williamson Street Art Center.

5/6-8/9, Jackie Macaulay Gallery (reception 5-9 pm, 5/17). Hours: 9 am-5 pm Mon.-Fri.

media release: See all the Foragings from the 2016 fire at the Willy St Art Center, half of which were recently on display at the Overture Center.

Explore TetraPAKMAN’s projects which use art as a mechanism to generate awareness about the climate crisis. More info on TetraPAKMAN can be found at: usgathering.info

Artist Statements:

Sharon Kilfoy: Foragings Forged in the Inferno

    On St Patrick’s Day, 2016, a fire started in the basement of my home – my base – the Williamson St Art Center. As luck would have it, I was out for dinner.

    Perhaps even more traumatic than dealing with the aftermath of the fire itself, was the month it took my insurance company to decide to grant coverage. During that time, my community – neighbors, family, friends, and especially other artists – rallied round me. “Sharon, you can fix all this – we’ll help.” Scary as it was, I did have that dreary March into April month of uncertainty to sort through the wreckage.

    I did not “make” the art attributed to me that you see here in this exhibit. It was only foraged by me from the shelves in my basement where the fire started. It was forged through the transformational process of the inferno itself. The fire made this art. I only figured a way to present it to you.

    The average home fire reaches 1000 degrees F. I am much more aware now of “exit plans” anywhere I go. I especially think of the future of sentient beings on this planet as fire becomes one of the greatest consequences of our failure to muster the collective will to save ourselves and prevent unimaginable suffering for this and future generations. My heart is aligned with those around the planet whose lives are negatively affected by the devastation fire can cause.

TetraPAKMAN: Time is Running Out     

My practice is focused on community - generated social sculpture projects. My work is about the future, and the challenges we face today as a community. My projects explore the role of art as a mechanism to generate awareness about the climate crisis.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT, my recent project for the Social Justice Center, features a selection of pieces from The Climate Sheets, which wrap the walls of the exhibition space.

 The Climate Sheets contain specific lectures and information from the daily records of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (CO2) that the Keeling curve documents over time. The current level of CO2 increasingly threatens human and animal habitats on Earth.

Other pieces in the exhibit include the video documentation of CRISIS, a performance from 1996 in Monterrey Mexico, which explores how we are voluntarily burning the planet. If greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly reduced, time WILL run out.