Crescent Tree Gallery is pleased to present Margaret Griffith: Intermix: Small Works on Paper. The exhibition opens on November 2, 2024, and will run through December 28, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, November 2 from 6 PM to 9 PM, and another reception Saturday, December 7 from 6 PM to 9 PM. Both receptions are free and open to the public.
Margaret Griffith’s artmaking practice is primarily concerned with the duality and contradictory implications of architectural boundaries found throughout the urban built environment. The artist’s sculptures, installations, and works on paper deconstruct the shapes of physical barriers erected against perceived external threats – wrought-iron residential gates, chain-link fences, metal grates employed in hostile architecture – and re-invents their patterns in materials that betray their inherent fragility.
Responding in part to the isolation and interpersonal suspicion that permeate modern American culture, works comprised of multiple overlapping layers of cut paper sheets emphasize the futility and impermanence of the physical and psychological barriers constructed between people. Their gridded patterns are slightly irregular, creating unexpected interference patterns that provoke a sensation of unease and disorientation. Another group of works, inspired by textile patterns, investigates the role of clothing in obscuring and protecting the body, as well as its capacity to serve as an indicator of wealth, privilege, and status. Perforated sheets of paper are inlaid with painted paper circles to create a unified plane, projecting a pretense of sturdiness and stability onto their porous and delicate forms.
Margaret Griffith received her BFA in painting from Maryland Institute College of Art and her MFA in sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally, and her work has been exhibited at such institutions as the Craft Contemporary, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, and Armory Center for the Arts. Her work has been reviewed in Artillery Magazine, ArtScene, and the Los Angeles Times, among others.