Project Type: Bonner David Galleries

Holly Wilson-Gathering

Gathering

GATHERING

2015, 28” x 16.5” x 5.5”, Unique Cast Bronze with Patina and Locust Wood

When I was young we lived on a mountain in Cherokee, NC, my father taught at the Indian School for several years. My memories have no words from that time just images, some of running the woods, others of going up and down the winding stairs to go to school. The “Gathering” is my interpretation of that part of my life; my coming home to the place and to the people I am a part of.

The wood is from a Locust tree. It is cut lengthwise; it exposes the rough center of the tree and the lines, the lines of the tree show its history. This wood is cut on the angle to be the mountain I lived upon, and the mountain we all climb during life.

When “Gathering” is hung the light cast shadows of the figures on the wall, these shadows represent for me memories. Memories cannot be held they have no words, and in the end, we are all only a shadow in history, shadows on this earth.

I used my Cigar Figures to represent my family in “Gathering”. These figures come from a Native American story of my childhood that my mother told of the “Stick People”. The “Stick People” would run through the night and call your name, she never described the figures and I was drawn to the idea of what they looked like for most of my life. The Cigar Figures are my reimagining of that story, now a story of family and my past. The figures are made of real cigars and found sticks. I create molds of the cigars and then cast them and the sticks in bronze. The faces are of the people from my past and my present.

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For inquiries, please contact:
Bonner David Art Boutique
22 E. 81 ST | New York City, New York 10028 | 929.226.7800

Bonner David Galleries
7040 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | 480.941.8500

Exhibition History

  • Return to Exile, traveling exhibition, various venues (August 2015-May 2018)
  • The Museum of the Southeast American Indian, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, (January 8 – May 12, 2018)
  • Fine Art Museum, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina, (August  21 – December 8, 2017)
  • Cherokee Heritage Center, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, (June 2-August 20, 2017)
  • AHHA – Hardesty Arts Center, co-sponsored with Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma (October 1-November 20, 2016)
  • John Brown University Galleries, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, (August 30-September 23, 2016)
  • Dr. J.W. Wiggins Gallery, Sequoyah National Research Center, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas (February 4-May 6, 2016)
  • Collier County Museums, Naples, Florida, (October 15, 2015-January 15, 2016)

Holly Wilson-Gathering-Detail

Under Our Skin-Detail-Holly Wilson

Under Our Skin

Under Our Skin

100” x 70” x 2”, (site sets size), Crayola Crayon

I think if we could see ourselves as all the colors in the crayon box in all the shades, we could be kinder we would be able to feel if just for a moment another’s life and our world could change in such a way that children would not worry about if they are too light or too dark to belong. We are more than a classification in terms of a position between two extremes, I see the light within us all and the variations that make each of us, we are all the colors and an untold number of possibilities.

The way we see others and how one is seen has been a subject that I have had in my life since I was small. I am both Native American and Caucasian but growing up I felt more times than I care to count that I was not enough of one or the other and that pull made me question all parts of myself. If I did not look like _____ could I be ______? Where did I fit if I was not a part of this or that group? I have had conversations with many that are from other races and nationalities, and they too have struggled. Is my skin too dark or not dark enough, the texture of my hair or the accent that one hears when I speak? All this history, this past came to a head one day while getting my children ready for school we were pulling together pencils, colored pencils, folders, and crayons. They had to have 4 sets of 24 crayons each and we had leftovers from sets of the past years, some colors had never been used, and we were combining them together so we’d know how many new boxes would be required. The kids were talking about their friends at the new school and friends of their past school. In the conversation, they were describing the children “the girl with a big laugh, she has yellow hair or the boy I ate lunch with, he was a helper, and he told the funniest stories”, in a very casual descriptive manner with no malice or notice to the differences. This made me think more about how we see people and how one is judged. The smell of the crayons, the vivid colors, and the thoughts of my youth brought me to this crayon project. How we change in our viewpoints of people, and how we judge people based on race, color. We are all one below that surface, that surface of skin, no matter the color, the shape, or the origin.

12 girls and each girl are made from 12 colors in a Crayola Crayon box making a total of 144 girls.

 

Available

For inquiries, please contact:

BONNER DAVID GALLERIES

22 E. 81 ST | New York City, New York 10028 | 929.226.7800 | www.bdgartboutique.com
7040 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | 480.941.8500 | www.BonnerDavid.com

Exhibition History

  • Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Pl, Oklahoma City, OK 73111 (November 9th, 2018 – Aug 4, 2019)
  • Holly Wilson: Talk Story, C.N. Gorman Museum, University of California-Davis (January 9-March 16, 2018)
Under Our Skin-Holly Wilson-2m
Under Our Skin
Under Our Skin-v2-Holly Wilson
Under Our Skin

 

Science Museum Install-Holly Wilson
Under Our Skin and Spectrums Within Under Our Skin

 

Under Our Skin-v4-Holly Wilson

Splintered History-Holly Wilson

Splintered History

Splintered History

2017, 40” x 11” x 20”, Unique Cast Bronze with Patina, and Cedar

In our life, there are moments of splinter when we either continue forward or turn around. These breaks shape our history. For better or worse, they become a part of us.

Sold

For inquiries, please contact:
Bonner David Art Boutique
22 E. 81 ST | New York City, New York 10028 | 929.226.7800

Bonner David Galleries
7040 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | 480.941.8500

Holly Wilson-Can You Hear Me Now

Can You Hear Me Now

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW

2015-16, 30” x 41”x 7”, Unique Cast Bronze with Patina

Can you hear me; can you see me? I will no longer stand to the side. I shout out to the winds and the world letting my voice be heard. As the girl shouts out the birds scatter in surprise but the crow remains beside her, the crow a shapeshifter, and the messenger foretold that her voice would be heard. I find that there are more times than not that as a female and a Native American to be heard one has to use a strong voice from deep inside. The reaction that follows is both of surprise and intrigue.

Sold

For inquiries, please contact:
Bonner David Art Boutique
22 E. 81 ST | New York City, New York 10028 | 929.226.7800

Bonner David Galleries
7040 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | 480.941.8500

Exhibition History

  • A Foot in Two Worlds, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (June 18 – August 21, 2015)

Holly Wilson-Can You Hear Me Now-Detail 2

Holly Wilson-Can You Hear Me Now-side

Holly Wilson-Can You Hear Me Now-Detail

Holly Wilson-Can You Hear Me Now-Bird

Portrait of Paper Wing in Blue

PORTRAIT OF PAPER WING IN BLUE

Encaustic on Birch
4″ x 4″

SOLD

Bonner David Galleries
Scottsdale, AZ

Historically we have had portraits painted of important people in our history. These two images are portraits of a sculpture “Paper Wings”. This sculpture had such an impact on me I felt her image should be captured in the historical manner as well.

Mother and Daughter: Cigar Figures

Mother and Daughter: Cigar Figures

Mother and Daughter: Cigar Figures

Unique Cast Bronze with Patina, and Wood
16” x 6” x 4”, 2014

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Bonner David Galleries
Scottsdale, AZ

The Cigar Figures come from a Native American story of my childhood that my mother told of the “Stick People”. These Stick People were figures that would run through night and call your name, if you were to go with them you were never hear from again. The Cigar Figures are my re-interpretation of that story. The story of family and our past, when light falls on the figures the shadow cast on the wall represents for me memory. Like a shadow these memories cannot be held, in the end we are only a shadow in history shadows on this earth.

The figures are made of real cigars and found sticks. I then cast them in bronze.