At Pioneer Works, the Germantown-based artist Sally Saul shares whimsical objects of clay and glaze that create a mythos around subjects that are by turns precious and nefarious. The name of the exhibit, “Blue Hills, Yellow Tree,” captures the sort of winding up and down these 34 works curate. It’s a pleasant ride, whose occasionally puzzling pieces remain amusing and warm.
The second floor gallery conveys the gentle whimsy that defines Saul’s vision. You have “Ophelia’s Flowers,” which shows amorphous clay/ceramic objects on a red velvet blanket. Against the red drop they look like dead objects distilled for study.
It’s impressive how curator Vivian Chui drew from many sources to gather these pieces: Betsy Kaufman, Phoebe Allen, KAWS, Rachel Uffner Gallery (which represents Saul). I’m equally appreciative of the fact this is the accumulation of three decades of work. You have “Big Beaver” from 1989, then more recent work on the third floor like “In/Out” (2018) and “UFO” (2017). In “UFO” (2017), a black flying saucer with circled by red dollops — the shape seems inspired by a 1950s toy — is perched on the crown on a tree whose two upper trunks have been cut off, incidentally making for a perfect landing place. There is a curious fox at the base of the tree, as well as a neon pink-green ladder leaning against the tree’s trunk.
You get a keener sense of Saul’s vision in the more concentrated arrangement at PW’s top floor. There’s the immensely evocative “Peter,” presumably a rendering of the artist’s husband Peter Saul, whose own acclaimed paintings may affectionately be dubbed as “whacky.” The powdery shade of blue is one that runs throughout her work, a motif that no doubt would fascinate Maggie Nelson’s “Bluets.” There’s a crown of sorts coming out of his head. What to make of it?
A pair of two-foot busts — Franklin D. Roosevelt with Gertrude Stein, then Dwight Eisenhower with Rachel Carson – attracted the most attention May 9, opening night. The interpretations behind these pairings are potentially limitless and you’re free to knock yourself out, or listen to Chui’s suggestions that the groupings contrasts “feminine ingenuity against masculine power.”
While most of the works involve ceramics, the third floor has some acrylic drawings on paper.
The modest pieces are naive and some retain the raggedness of being ripped from a sketchbook. That these brute drawings are contained in respectable Ethan Allen frames lends a playful element to the more lurid subject matter: night owls, eagles twisting in tree, a tulip apparently melting from the inside out.
Saul’s interest in the vacancy behind a surface is seen in the titles, like one work called “Peel,” but also with “In/Out,” a slapdash of positive and negative space. The clay/ceramic piece appears to be an abstracted chicken has been exploded and rendered in a new form. The yarn on which two beads balance gives a joviality to what may be a dramatic scene; the yarn sparingly yet sensitively used calls to mind Judith Scott’s equally mysterious, childish, and haunting work.
Saul explores cavities more in an untitled piece from 2016. A woman, about two feet tall, stands looking forlornly while a hole is in her cheek, splotches of primary colors dote her nails, nipples, and groin. The open slits in the back of the women are almost the same shape as those in “In/Out.” What to make of this connection?
The title of the woman, perhaps thankfully, gives us no clue toward meaning. But taken collectively, there’s a mythology in the making, a driving vision from a dedicated artist to how the world works. That Saul has was born in Albany in 1946, moved west to study literature throughout Colorado and California during the 1960s, would position her as a myth-maker. The twined use of clay (rough, childish, raw and real) with glaze (refined, frail, skillful) reflects a sensitivity that’s aware of violence but won’t recapitulate it.
“Blue Hills, Yellow Tree,” runs Through July 7. 159 Pioneer St. Wednesday – Sunday, 12 – 6pm. Red Hook residents can hear from Saul herself June 9, when she gives a gallery talk that Sunday at 2:30pm.
