https://www.independent.com/2022/05/23/new-exhibits-at-solvangs-wilding-elverhoj-museums-bring-the-outdoors-in-focus/
New Exhibits at Solvang’s Wilding & Elverhøj Museums Bring the Outdoors in Focus
Portals & Pathways to More Mesa and Dramatic Views of Greenland
Kerrie Smith, Portals & Pathways, Installation view at the Wildling Museum, April 2022. | Credit: Courtesy
By Leslie Dinaberg
Mon May 23, 2022 | 10:53am
Kerrie Smith, Portals & Pathways, Installation view at the Wildling Museum, April 2022.
The vast beauty of the trails and sweeping ocean and mountain views of Santa Barbara’s More Mesa open space provide inspiration for Portals & Pathways, a yearlong installation at the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvang. Artist Kerrie Smith (kerriesmithstudio.com) designed the site-specific work to be an evolving meditation on the changing seasons and local flora and fauna. A resident of the More Mesa neighborhood for two decades, Smith’s daily walks have covered the more than 340 acres of beautiful trails and pristine beaches that make up this stunning part of our coastline.
A combination of mobiles, banners, paintings, and photography, Smith said she hopes her art will inspire others to “take their own journeys and joyous walks” into More Mesa.
“My banners rise out of the light and shadows that I witness through the seasons at various times of the day and early evenings. I recreate the ephemeral as organic, nature-driven forms that reflect this shape-shifting landscape. These shapes, bounded by curves, mirror the constantly unfolding transitions of light and color,” said Smith. “For me, they reveal optimism, expansiveness, creation, and the life force. I build my compositions with multiple layers and an array of techniques and tools as I seek a balance between the once tamed landscape and its original feral state.”
