Fantastical creatures inhabit imaginary landscapes
Ann Cummings calls them accumulations.
They are, she says, “imaginary landscapes, based on my observations of what I see around me.”
A concern for the future of the natural environment drives her work.
But this is not the kind of landscape art you might expect; these are made of porcelain. Cummings, a well established ceramist, builds complex sculptures resembling hills covered with creatures, plants and shells.
Her accumulations are on show in Flora & Fauna, an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Burlington that she shares with Jim Hong Louie.
The hill-like shape is inspired by the setting of her house northeast of Toronto.
“I live up a rather steep hill in the middle of the woods,” she tells me. “Unconsciously, the building of the work took the form of a hill with animals hiding, surrounding and tumbling down.”
The bottom layer of “Populus Grandidentata” — named after a deciduous tree — is white with touches of light blue. It’s filled with shells, leaves and flowers. Moving higher up, we encounter horses, a unicorn, rabbits, birds and butterflies among the shells, leaves and flowers. They are in pale blue-green.
“Mostly I decide what will fit into the particular space I’m working on and how the form flows with what is surrounding it,” she says. “I want things to be very dense.”
Horses were the first animals she made when she began creating her accumulations.
“I have always been a city gal but now I live in horse country,” she explains. “The reason for the horse is my late husband, in a new beginning to his career, began working with a therapeutic riding program near our house. The horse is a tribute to him.”
Birds occupy the very top. One sits in a nest. A second bird sits on top of it, and a third bird on top of the second.
Nesting birds also cap “Wanna Get Out,” a more precarious arrangement.
“The nesting forms are for protection, safety, hiding places, continued growth, rebirth,” Cummings says.
Horses walk in a row just under the birds. Human arms and legs stick out all over.
The chaotic nature of her recent sculptures is meant to reflect the state of the world and Cummings’s fears for the future of our planet.
“When I was making this work, Donald Trump was about to be elected, and we all know the rest.”
Hong Louie, like Cummings, is a highly experienced ceramist. He is known for his extraordinary creatures, including Eel, an installation of hundreds of life-size eels on permanent display at the AGB.
For this exhibition, he fashioned rabbits from earthenware.
Their heads are furry. They have bunny ears and tails. But they stand upright on two legs, often wearing sloppy sweats and running shoes. Their hands are human, right down to the fingernails.
They are too tall for rabbits and too small for humans. They sometimes appear in pairs, sometimes alone.
“Pink Rabbit,” in pink sweats, sports a prominent pot belly. He stands next to “Grey Rabbit Discussing.” This pair is engaged in conversation, their arms close to their bodies and fingers pointing. Hong Louie gives them prominent whiskers. Fine ridges on their faces convey the look and feel of fur. They cast wonderful shadows.
“White Rabbit Giving You The Snake Eyes” consists of two mischievous rabbits. They sit and narrow their eyes like snakes, making faces at passersby. Look closely and you will see their teeth.
Call them rabbits. But don’t call them cute.