Domestic Travels
July 31 – September 11, 2009
Opening Reception Friday, July 31, 5:30-7:30pm

Artspace 116 presented Domestic Travels, an installation of works by Albuquerque artist Becky Holtzman. The artist merges natural and man-made materials and brings the outside into her art-making studio.

Becky Holtzman states, “Domestic Travels is an exploration of what it means to be truly at home in the world, traveling lightly within a backyard garden, the lush bosque, or on a high desert plain. Perusing the ground on morning walks, eyes peeled for sticks and stones, I try to discern the meaning of a curved branch: suggestion of an embrace, a place to rest, gentleness. The objects I make often merge natural and man-made materials; Frankenstein branches pieced together from various twigs, red earth used to dye fabric. I am interested in this synthesis of the natural and manufactured, because I find solace in wild and tamed environments – a national forest, or a natural history book. The humor and irony of making artificial “natural” objects is not lost on me. I see it as a way of addressing my fear that none of us spends enough time in wild places. By bringing the outside into my studio, I flatter it with imitation.”


For more information about Becky Holtzman visit www.beckytomato.com

For more information about Artspace 116 visit www.artspace116.org

Artspace 116
gallery closed fall 2009

image: Becky Holtzman, Embrace, 2008, found wood, papier mache, acrylic, monofilament