Drew Dodge: Earth-Pourers

The exhibition "Earth-Pourers" presents a recently completed series in which the shell appears as a recurring motif. The spiral form provides a structural element within the compositions, alongside interspecies forms, skies, water, lava and rope.

For Dodge, the shell relates to ideas of time and memory, as well as infinity. Its iridescent, pearlescent surface also relates to the increasing scale and reflective qualities of his canvases.

The new paintings also introduce water into the desert landscapes that have featured in Dodge’s earlier work, which draws on his childhood in Arizona and his interest in Salvador Dalí’s arid landscapes. In these works, desert and ocean imagery overlap: sand dunes suggest horizons, while snail shells replace the previously recurring motif of the sun-bleached cow skull.