Houses = Mountains
Works by Nevada Smith
Curated by Alex Tapié
Working in the trades, first with his father in demolition, and then as a carpenter, has heightened his interest in marks made, sometimes by accident, while constructing and deconstructing. When Smith began making wood blocks, he used traditional chisels. His methods have evolved since then: he now uses a circular saw, utility knife and hammer. The misdirection of a hammer or nail – as well as the lines a circular saw makes when it strays off course – creates shapes, dimensions, and landscapes within the wood and other building materials.
Here, Smith's work struggles to communicate a search for significance in landscapes of run down, man made structures – similar to what is often sought from a waterfall or mountain. Vacant homes molder into the organic; this decay propels their integration with the natural landscapes that surround them. In this way, a new aesthetic develops. A narrative inheres in the ridgeline of a house that is sagging, in the skeletal remnants of a home’s framework.
Works by Nevada Smith
Curated by Alex Tapié
Working in the trades, first with his father in demolition, and then as a carpenter, has heightened his interest in marks made, sometimes by accident, while constructing and deconstructing. When Smith began making wood blocks, he used traditional chisels. His methods have evolved since then: he now uses a circular saw, utility knife and hammer. The misdirection of a hammer or nail – as well as the lines a circular saw makes when it strays off course – creates shapes, dimensions, and landscapes within the wood and other building materials.
Here, Smith's work struggles to communicate a search for significance in landscapes of run down, man made structures – similar to what is often sought from a waterfall or mountain. Vacant homes molder into the organic; this decay propels their integration with the natural landscapes that surround them. In this way, a new aesthetic develops. A narrative inheres in the ridgeline of a house that is sagging, in the skeletal remnants of a home’s framework.
