October 9 - December 4, 2021

SITE Gallery
The Silos at Sawyer Yards
1502 Sawyer Street, Suite 400
Houston, TX 77007

17,000 or so years ago in Altamira, in Northern Spain, prehistoric man created these magnificent and now famous cave paintings. Along with early carvings made out of animal bones or mammoth ivory these paintings and similar ones discovered in Lascaux or Chauvet can be considered the origin of art as we know it today.

Participating artists sit back and picture themselves as cave artists, but with the entire array of modern technology at their disposal. They will try to explore and tie into this ”primal urge to create” that compelled our ancestors to become curious about the human existence and to transform their observations into tangible images.

As a fitting background, the architecture of the Silos represents an urban cave environment that provides a near authentic experience with its 34 individual art spaces, dark passage ways, mysterious side chambers and dramatic scale shifts.

Participating artists:
Ariel Bowman, Robin Baker, Christyn Overstake, Justin Boyd, Elaine Bradford, Emily Link, Susan Budge, Larry Graeber, Suguru Hiraide, Allison Hunter, Kathy Kelley, Cindee Klement, Sue Anne Rische, John Runnels, Shawn Smith, Anthony Suber, Damon Thomas, and Nestor Topchy

Susan Budge’s Artist Statement

“Stardust” is an installation that encompasses my need to create. As my hands mold the clay that make the eyes and the stars, the animals and the figures, I celebrate all that I love and am intrigued by. Nature is my muse. Seeing into the depths of the night sky is mysterious. Time is elusive. In dreams my psyche tries to guide and when awake I search for that which sustains my spiritual core.

For as long as we know, people have looked up at the sky in wonder. The Silos, like the sky, beckons you to look up. Kandinsky said that everything has a secret soul, some say that eyes are the window to the soul. Surveillance is occurring as the large eye in the opening of the silo records the activity below. Behavior can be affected when we know we are being watched.

Gazing into the cosmos affirms that we are just a tiny spec in the big scheme of things, yet also an integral part. Given this perspective into the infinite, we can realize our connection to each other and embrace our similarities. We are all flesh and blood and bones, turning to dust, stardust. Some times I need to be reminded to be mindful of what I live for.

Materials: ceramic objects, steel straps, nuts, bolts, chain, wire, electronic surveillance equipment, monitor, sound equipment with recording of Willie Nelson “Stardust” combined with pre-dawn sounds from nature, fan, lights, sand, bricks, rocks, petrified wood, cow bones, sweat, glitter, and glue.