Acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist Alicia Piller is holding a Spring exhibition for her recent “Rooted in Rebirth” collection at the college’s library building.
“Rooted in Rebirth” is a series of sculptures reflecting the past, present, and future while exploring themes such as resilience, social reform, regeneration, and environmental rebirth. Although the exhibit presents and explores the worrying and unpredictable present, it also looks into a hopeful future, inviting viewers to imagine how a bright and blooming future can rise from the ashes of societal collapse. Every individual sculpture includes a piece of the earth and nature to create a connection between the Earth and humanity and the hope for renewal–for rebirth–through the care of sowing and tending the seeds of the future. Sculptures are Ailicia Piller’s specialty, with the artist using various skills and techniques with materials such as resin, latex, repurposed canvases, jewelry, dried plants, vinyl, leather, stone, and recycled objects. She even includes photos that she takes of her work.
The centerpiece of the exhibit is “Mission Control. Earthseed. (3 Throne Chairs” inspired by Octavia Butler’s warnings of environmental collapse. In 1993, Butler wrote a speculative post-apocalyptic fiction novel titled “Parable of the Sower,” envisioning Earth ravaged by climate change. It includes a powerful line, “Once people get the idea that it’s all right to take what you want and destroy the rest, who knows when they’ll stop.” The piece serves as a beacon, an immersive lighthouse installation including three throne-like chairs and a “Wishing Well” with images of Dred Scott, a man who sued for his and his family’s freedom in 1846, and Octavia Butler. The piece was created with recycled materials and aimed to present the idea of growth born from destruction.
Alicia Piller was born and raised in Chicago, with her mother’s side being African American and her father’s side being Jewish American. From her mother, she learned crafts such as sewing, weaving, and hands-on problem solving, and from her father, she received various restored objects and inspiration from anatomy. Piller has an educational background from Rutgers University, earning a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts and Anthropology in 2004. She began her work in the fashion industry. Over time, she developed her skills and voice in sculpture. In 2019, she earned her second degree, Master of Fine Arts in sculpture and installation from CalArts. Her work has even been featured on the cover of the LA Times in 2022. The New York Times covered her work in the same year.
Piller’s work examines traumatic history, political and environmental, using her own and others’ bodies to ‘activate’ a sculptural work. The goal of her work is to challenge the perspective of both the viewer and the object, to give life and shape to memories of the past, to allow us to examine the pain of historical traumas. Piller’s studies in painting and anthropology gave her technical inspiration from various world cultures. Her works, sometimes referred to as ‘organisms,’ mimic natural forms, such as cellular biology and the layers of bodies. Mimicking cellular biology allows the works to reflect living things, such as the environment, being a conduit for Piller and the audience to explore the origin of environmental and even societal disintegration. The works are called ‘organisms’ due to the way the works are encased with layers similar to membranes.
One of her previous exhibitions was held at Craft Contemporary, an art museum in Los Angeles. This collection was titled “Within,” and examined themes such as trauma, capitalism, and colonialism, which are also seen in “Rooted in Rebirth.” It speaks to personal and collective memory, human and earthly concerns, and Black culture, with the aim of depicting things inside and around us.
“Rooted in Rebirth” will remain at Glendale Community College until May 23, open Mondays from 12:30 to 5:30 pm and Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 am to 5:30 pm at the Library Building 326. On Thursday, May 8, Alicia Piller will be on campus May 8 for Art Talk from 12:30 to 2 pm. For more information from the artist herself, head to the Art Talk event or check out her website at https://www.aliciapiller.com.
Makenna Ward can be reached at [email protected]