Show Description:
CATHARSIS is an interdisciplinary solo exhibition examining the journey from concealment to discovery through catharsis. This exhibit is an extension of The Bedsheet Chronicles central question “What do you Cover”. This exhibit explores this question by looking at landscapes and the cultural terrains around us. It examines how our environment shapes us, hides us, or defines our worldview consciously or unconsciously through life experiences, religion, family, society, and the culture of our adolescence.
To achieve this Duncan uses a variety of mediums to construct conceptual lamps which some include collage classical Americana landscapes, surveys of different decades, and Photojournalism. Also an immersive installation will premiere a new documentary about THE BEDSHEET CHRONICLES (in collaboration with Jack Wade) in a sheet covered canopy for patrons to watch, made by local videographer Jack Wade. We hope that as you engage with this space that you explore your inner and outer worlds, examine what you truly value, and find yourself joyous, cathartic, and at peace.
Artist Statements:
About Duncan Menzies:
My practice is deeply rooted in place. By foraging materials to create inks, sculptures, and works on paper, I establish a direct and tangible relationship with the land. This process ties my practice to the physical landscape in an intimate and evolving way, transforming natural materials into pieces that reflect both personal experience and broader ecological narratives. My work explores the profound and often unsettling experience of witnessing climate change in real-time. Living in the Western United States, I am acutely aware of the rapid transformations taking place—wildfires, droughts, and shifting ecosystems—each leaving an indelible mark on the land and on my own sense of belonging. My pieces function as gestures of simultaneous surrender and defiance, embodying the tension between mourning and resilience. As I grapple with an increasing sense of solastalgia, my practice becomes a way to process grief while also resisting narratives of helplessness. The imagery and subject matter I engage with stem from my deep interest in dismantling patriarchal tropes of the American West. I challenge the myths of rugged individualism and conquest that have long defined the region’s cultural identity, instead offering alternative perspectives that emphasize interdependence, adaptation, and reverence for the land. By weaving together history, ecology, and materiality, my work invites a reconsideration of place—not as something to be dominated or possessed, but as something to be in relationship with.
About Jack Waade: