Sticks and Stones: Branching Out

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More About

• Vicki Rottman
• Loay Boggess
• Ironton

Though stone carver Vicki Rottman and photographer and ceramicist Loay Boggess, didn't work collaboratively, they have nonetheless intermingled their separately produced works in a set of installations. This conjoined twin of a solo, Sticks and Stones: Branching Out, is on view at Ironton Studios and Gallery (3636 Chestnut Place, 303-297-8626, www.irontonstudios.com).

Meandering through the two-part space is what could be described as a dry creekbed. The serpentine form is dotted with sculptures of rocks and has been outlined by weavings made of dyed reeds that have the character of a fishing net (detail pictured).

At first it was hard to tell which pieces were Rottman's and which were by Boggess, but as I zeroed in on the different vocabularies used by each, their work became fairly easy to distinguish. Rottman's work — other than the weavings — is often made of stone, an interesting idea considering that what she renders are rocks. Boggess, who also makes rock facsimiles, uses clay, executed in either stoneware or raku.

The central installation is supplemented by a number of things lining the walls or hanging on them. Rottman has done stone carvings of simplified animal shapes as well as using found branches, either displayed as found or covered with her fishnet-style weavings. The branches — more than the animals — reinforce the bucolic quality of the stony stream.

Also contributing to the natural mood is Boggess's "A Year in the Life: Four Seasons," which is hanging on the wall. Boggess has taken photos of trees and arranged them into a grid of 49 images that elegantly walk the viewer through the four seasons.

The atmosphere of Sticks and Stones is reminiscent of nature-based installation art from the 1970s and '80s, but I've been seeing a lot more of it lately, so rather than being old-fashioned, it must be in a revival of sorts. The show concludes with a solstice party from 6 to 9 p.m. on June 20 at Ironton.