In 2019, Los Angeles-based painter Eric Merrell undertook a five-week residency at the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California. The experience proved to be a memorable one as his time there continues to inspire his studio work, including a new show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles.
Shadows Between the Sky, oil, 16 x 20"The show will include many pieces inspired by the Mojave Desert, including images of Joshua trees, sandy plains that stretch for miles and several nocturne images of rock formations under moonlight. “I’m drawn to the visual quiet and coolness of night, and the abstract qualities of it. It’s great for shapes,” Merrell says. “The California desert is ideal for dark skies far away from light pollution, so moonlight is just fantastic. Sometimes you can make things out, see things clearly, but more often edges blend together and things are merely suggested. But there’s often a good deal of shifts in color temperatures, changes in form. I have a lot of fun with those.”
Clones, oil, 18 x 24"
Snowglobe, oil, 24 x 32"Like the Taos Society of Artists and their cottonwoods and aspens, or Arizona artists and the saguaro cactus, Merrell is drawn to the region’s iconic plant, the Joshua tree. “Joshua trees are so individual and so full of variety, no two ever look exactly alike, although I like the idea that somewhere out there, amongst millions of acres of them, you might find a matching pair. The unique shapes of the trees make for lots of compositional possibilities too,” he says, adding that the plants and rock formations allow him to create abstract design within his work. “I seek out the big abstract shapes and design as a way of digging into the underlying moods of what the piece might be about. I work on location in oil and watercolor, but often draw in my sketchbook and build off of that later, so it’s a bit of both. I’m really engaged in how I can make the most interesting visual statement, and there are many ways to get to that.”
Looming in the Moonlight, oil, 18 x 18"
Works in the show include Clones, which plays on that idea that there might be twin Joshua trees out in the desert, and Looming in the Moonlight, a work with a skull-shaped rock formation that seems to stalk the quietness of the desert.
The show hangs through February 4. —
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