The hard-edge, minimalist sculptures made of silk, wood, and stone are created through durational exposure to nature’s powerful forces and elements, such as hurricane winds, ocean water, rain, sea salt, soil, sun, and even wildlife. The exhibition title, Burying Painting, refers to Perkins’s study and exploration of the history of action painting, sculpture, and land art. The title also alludes to his singular technique of burying textile-wrapped structures and leaving them semi-exposed in the landscape for months or years, using the landscape as his painting palette. Once the outdoor duration is finished, the works are “harvested” from the land. The transfigured materials are relieved and re-stretched onto frames, creating painting-like works with shifting color fields and varied textures capturing nature’s agency, power, and beauty.

Perkins’s artistic philosophy positions his sculptures as “post-totem structures,” referencing symbolic objects that express individual and collective identity. Throughout history, totems have evolved from ancestral signifiers to symbols of positionality. Rather than diminishing the value of totems, Perkins’s philosophy challenges human-nature relationships by symbolically neutralizing systems that disconnect us from the natural world and each other. The exhibition features floor and wall sculptural works that have been created in various locations and shaped by their environments, including the beaches of Fire Island and the Sonoran Desert. The exhibition will also highlight the artist’s site-specific and performative process through short films and documentary photography. 

Organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Lauren R. O’Connell, curator of contemporary art. Support provided by Collaborating Sponsor Gary N. Owen. 

Installation images by Gabby Usinger.