Miniaturization transforms everyday objects to fascinating
The art of creating dioramas, miniature worlds of immense detail, has a long, storied history dating to burial rituals for royals in ancient Egypt. An exhibition at the Palo Alto Art Center, titled “Through That Which is Seen,” explores the infusion of this tradition into contemporary art. The dioramas on view unite the folksy whimsy of arts and crafts with a dark sense of humor.
The pieces in “Through That Which is Seen” possess a childlike sense of possibility. This is a perspective that artist Gregory Euclide, whose dioramas cascade out of picture frames in falls of glass and greenery, embraces.
“There is something about a child’s understanding of the world ... that is less hindered by the realities of time and space. ... It relates more to what they need or want,” Euclide says. “There is no impossible.”
The world of each diorama is finely constructed. Joshua Smith’s “Discolandia” is a gritty miniature tribute to Discolandia Records, a San Francisco institution. It is precise, down to a tiny, discarded copy of The Chronicle on the sidewalk in front of the building.
“I find it intriguing and also slightly amusing that things I find discarded on the streets … that any person would normally walk past and not think twice,” Smith says about the way his work imbues mundane objects with new fascination. “When you miniaturize that, the same people absolutely love it!”
A stroll around the property at the Palo Alto Art Center leads to Patrick Dougherty’s “Whiplash,” a twisting and largerthan-life sculptural installation of tree branches, made on-site during the artist’s residency. The juxtaposition of “Whiplash” with the dioramas from “Through That Which is Seen” makes for a compelling visit, as the works share a sense of material play and curiosity, though rendered on different scales.