FAULT LINES

   A tornado looms dark in the distance over a quiet rural town. Capitol police brace together, preparing for a violent rush from insurrectionists. These are the fault lines followed by artists Andrew Hall and George Zuniga. In a geologic sense, fault lines are where tectonic tension has caused cracks in the earth’s crust.

This exhibit follows other lines of impact, where humans play a role : people in conflict with chaotic forces of nature - and people intension with the other timeless enemy, other people.

 

    Andrew Hall draws scenes of environmental disaster in a small format, using layers of ink to build tiny details. This careful observation extends beyond his artwork and into his knowledge of the subject itself. From the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964 to the 2011 Joplin tornado, Hall is fluent in the facts and figures of devastation. An architectural scholar, he finds traces of beauty in the demolished structures.

 

   George Zuniga is driven by an emotional response to world politics. As he lays down marks, he rattles off descriptions of events past and present, with particular interest to the Cold War and Russia. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine early last year inspired Zuniga to create a series of drawings that record and try to comprehend the atrocities of war.

 

    Through a neverending news cycle of trauma, it’s hard to avoid feeling numb. These two bodies of work challenge us to engage with painful and intense images. They ask us to see zones of conflict with fresh, empathetic eyes - and to consider the fundamental interconnectedness of our unstable world.