Exhibition Dates:
April 26 - June 14, 2024

Opening Reception:
Friday, April 26, 2024, 5:00-9:00pm

Artist Talk:
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 11:00am

Rivalry Projects is thrilled to present Elizabeth Corkery: Well-Ripened Seeds, a solo exhibition of new works, which will be on view from April 26 - June 14, 2024. Join us for the opening reception on Friday, April 26, 2024 from 5:00-9:00pm. The artist will be present for the opening reception, as well as a conversation about their work on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 11:00am.

Well-Ripened Seeds utilizes photographic and installation-based works to explore the ways in which the poaching, trade, and propagation of plants from colonized nations influenced the growth and development of imperial powers in the 19th Century. This exhibition pays specific attention to the industry and plant-powered commerce of the British Empire, and its effect on the development of bourgeois prosperity. As the 19th century progressed and labor moved out of the home, domestic interiors shifted to prioritize comfort, relaxation, and aesthetic interventions. This led to the investment in the decorative arts and the development of the domestic interior as we know it today.

Grounded by this history, the exhibition features three full-sized hearths, constructed from handmade tiles, that adorn the interior of the gallery. The mapping of the exhibition is informed by the footprint of a traditional Victorian terrace home. The hearths draw upon the intricate design of 19th Century ceramic tiles and feature silkscreened patterns of plants - tobacco, indigo, sugar, rubber, and tea - that were influential in the consolidation of colonial power. Presented as quiet sculptural interventions, this body of work utilizes the subtle language of flowers and their relationship to the development of interior design, to examine the root of the industrial revolution, and who, in turn, is absent from narratives of economic and cultural growth. 

The hearths are complimented by a series of photographs that depict extravagant bourgeoise interiors, as assembled paper theater sets. Each miniature interior hosts an arrangement of natural commodities, including cotton, coffee, citrus fruits, and nutmeg, that appear to spill into and out of the circumscribed picture frame. The photographs play with our understanding of flatness and perspective while eschewing traditional relationships of scale, placing the oversized items within the miniature constructed interiors. 

As a city whose economic history is rooted in industry, Buffalo is an apt location for the debut of this body of work. Following the entrance into the post-industrial era, development slowed, and, where other cities moved to invest in new architectures, much of the city’s housing stock remained intact. As a result, Buffalo has one of the largest concentrations of Victorian homes in the nation. The principles of interior design, grown out of the imperial cultivation and subsequent industry of plants, continues to proliferate, both in the architectural gems of Buffalo, and beyond. This exhibition aims to call attention to these roots, lest we forget the complex web of profit and conquest that germinated the soil. 

WORKS

INSTALLATION VIEWS

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Elizabeth Corkery (b. Sydney, Australia) lives and works in Sacramento, CA. Her work borders on the ethnographic, addressing the social and political structures of environments’ creators and users. Originally trained as a printmaker much of Elizabeth’s practice connects conceptual concerns of repetition, reproduction and simulation with spatial investigations that initiate a slippage between the conventionally two-dimensional nature of print media and a more volumetric architectural space. Corkery holds a BFA from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, and an MFA from Cornell. Her work has been featured in exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Australia, with solo and group exhibitions at Fused Space, San Francisco, CA; Providence College Galleries, Providence, RI; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University; and IIdiko Butler Gallery, Fordham University, among many others. Corkery has participated in numerous residencies, including the John Michael Kohler Arts Center; The London Summer Intensive at The Slade School of Art, London; Studio Apprenticeship, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia; and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center, among many others.