LAND REPORT: East 8
March 28 – September 25, 2022
Curated by Mike Barclay

CityWay Gallery at the Alexander Hotel
216 E. South St., Indianapolis, IN 46204

The Land Report Collective deals with landscape in fundamental ways and as a foundational reference point. Although each artist investigates formal and conceptual issues based on the landscape as an individual, the essence of our collective lies in the intersection between the things each of us point at – as if we were pointing to locations like road signs. New meanings and contexts emerge when viewers see the conversations that open up between works in an exhibition that would not normally occur when pieces are exhibited in isolation. Furthermore, the development of the work for each exhibition is a result of the artists being in direct and indirect dialogue with each other, the spaces they inhabit, and the people they interact with there. Through this active process, members of the collective make new work as if it were a conversation, even though each artist acts autonomously and there is no hierarchical structure imposed.

This exhibition includes artwork by:
Leticia R. Bajuyo www.leticiabajuyo.com
Jason S. Brown www.jasonsheridanbrown.com
Brian R. Jobe www.brianjobe.com
David L. Jones www.davidlawrencejones.com
Patrick Kikut www.patrickkikut.com
Shelby Shadwell www.shelbyshadwell.com

I am honored that my new artificial turf pieces are on display in this group exhibition:

Hypergrass Runner: Maze, 2022
Hypergrass Runner: Diagonals, 2022
Hypergrass Runner: Checkerboard, 2022
Artificial turf, tarp, adhesive, bungees and hardware

In this series of site-sensitive installations, Bajuyo creates a multi-layered experience highlighting impact of desire, re-arbitration of value and our romantic but often dangerous relationship with nature. The artist uses artificial turf to question our obsessive and repetitive pursuit of a “well-manicured lawn” and desire to contain nature. Supporting these mosaics is a commonly used blue tarp, which has become symbolic of natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes for its use to shield or protect desired items from natural elements. This inexpensive and easily discarded material creates a danger for the natural environment. This conflicted argument of nature versus plastic is echoed in the tension of the bungee cords stretching this material toward itself.

Hypergrass Landscapes, 2022 Artificial turf, wood, and adhesive

Bajuyo’s drawings, sculptures, site-specific works and large-scale installations highlight the impact of desire and the machines that create more desire. While these abstract patterns are aesthetically pleasing they reference the often frustrating and continuous re-arbitration that comes with homeownership. Using artificial turf in this series of landscapes, the artist’s critical vision questions societal norms of lawn care and our comfort, containment, and control of nature in the pursuit of a “well-manicured lawn.” Acknowledging that the American dream of homeownership is sugar coated, the artist is commenting on the joy and repulsion of our society’s obsessive struggle with nature and our neighbors that is cyclical.