Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is pleased to announce Secret harmonies, an installation of new porcelain sculptures by Monica Banks. This will be her second solo exhibition with the gallery. An opening reception will be held on January 15th from 6-8pm.

Banks’ porcelain botanical sculptures take over The Pocket Gallery in this room-sized installation. Modeling from life, she creates delicate, detailed portraits of flowers in various stages of life. Randomly hung, as if in motion, the artist thinks of them as, “though they had blown in from the garden.” They float on the wall as if weightless and their muted glazing adds a soft, almost wispyness to the solid ceramic forms.

Banks sculpts to scale and will observe one subject multiple times, effectively creating snapshots of its brief lifespan as it buds, blossoms, wilts, and dies. The installation serves as a three dimensional chronograph, where one can trace a bloom’s journey from bud to decay.

This process, “is an attempt to portray the logic and imperfections of blossoms.” She adds in non botanical elements from her previous tableware series such as forks, spoons, ladders, and buttons to incorporate subconscious associations into this subject matter. A touch of surrealism enters the work in some pieces as petals emerge from stemmed tableware as they swirl amidst the flowers. Banks’ inclusion of these also places her work firmly in still life tradition; a wild vanitas of sorts.