Robin Hill: Denotations

September 1 - October 31, 2020
Another Year in LA
Los Angeles, CA

Hovering in a fluid space between drawing and sculpture, the works on view in Denotations, Robin Hill’s 6th solo exhibition at another year in la, seek to conflate her signature making-methodologies with the paradigm-shifting issues of the moment, which situate themselves front and center in what Hill refers to as  her “daily sheltering-in-place-inspired study(o)  practice.”

With Zamboni-like gestures of resurfacing, performed over exquisitely cast beeswax surfaces, Hill has pulled veils of cheesecloth curtains away from collaged text, which form words beginning with the prefix de. The results are tactile topographies demarcating zones of revelation and obfuscation. 

Hill’s manipulations of wax, paper and cloth are reminiscent of the patterns of ice-skating rinks, freshly shoveled snow, quilts, or Bauhaus design problems. The pieces are sticky, messy, and fragile, and require special care for their survival.  As such, they can also be read as metaphorical equivalents for the thoughtful navigation required to understand the tragic realities of injustice, racism, colonization, and inequality that are at work in every aspect of our society.

These works embrace the definition of denotation as the action or process of indicating or referring to something by means of a word or symbol. If nothing else, they serve as prompts for necessary actions going forward.