Housing Complex

Hilary Norcliffe

Jul. 17 - Aug. 14 2010

About Housing Complex

This work explores the relationship between House and Home.  A house is a shelter that we crave first for protection, and then for status.  Notions of home may overlap with our mental image of a house, however our life’s path, circumstantial or chosen, will challenge us to redefine our home.  Do we reach this sense of belonging through architecture, community, family, life-style, or personal meditation?  Do we live in a home, or does home live in us?

I present two bodies of work in this exhibition.  For nearly a year I have been getting to know the homeless community in Long Beach by doing quick charcoal sketches of them while they wait for their turn to take shower at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.  These urban cowboys describe their challenge as the “Survival of the Fittest,” and have described home as “an emotional state,” their “soul,” or “the whole earth.” (Lonnie, Curtis and friend – Spring 2010).

Simultaneously, I have been creating small assemblages using a wide variety of reclaimed wood (relating to the architecture of “house”) and small objects/materials that filter daily through our houses, slowly imbuing them with a sense of home.   Some of these are made in response to my own thoughts on house and home, while others are made in response to the stories I hear from the homeless community.

 

About Hilary Norcliffe

Born: Bristol, England, 1970
Raised: Ontario, Canada
Lives: Long Beach, California, USA

Solo  and Two-Person Exhibitions

2010 :: Housing Complex, DDR Projects, Santa Ana, California.

2010 :: Handmade Slides and Non-Existent Drawings, A Downtown LA ArtWalk projection at MONA (Museum of Neon Art), Los Angeles, California.

2007 :: Me and My Girl, Comer-Taylor Gallery, California State University, Long Beach, California.

2006 :: Me and My Girl, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Long Beach, California.

2004 :: Alouette, Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, California. Recalling Nature, (with Doug Buis) Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California.

2001 :: flit – A Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, Design Gallery, California State University, Long Beach, California.

2000 :: Chance It, Dance It, Installation in lobby of Martha B. Knobel Dance Theatre during Fall 2000 Faculty Dance Concert, California State University, Long Beach, California.

Group Exhibitions

2009 :: Looking Into the Sun, DDR Projects, Long Beach, California.

2009 :: Shock & Awe, Gatov Gallery, CSULB, Long Beach, California.

2008 :: The Audacity of Rope, Marilyn Werby Gallery, CSULB, Long Beach, California. Works on Paper:  Here & Now, Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California.

2008 :: The Nature of Inquiry Part 2, The Loft, San Pedro, California.

2007 :: The Nature of Inquiry, The Loft, San Pedro, California. Works on Paper, Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, California.

2007 :: Inspiring Change, Space 900, Chicago, Illinois.

2007 :: Eman On, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California.  

2007 :: Darkness and Light, The Armory Center for the Arts, Armory Northwest, Pasadena, California.

2006 :: Collaborations, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, California.  
 
2006 :: Metropolis:  This Other Eden, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California.

2005 :: Los Angeles Juried Exhibition.  Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, California.

2005 :: Caged, The Armory Center for the Arts, Armory Northwest, Pasadena, California.

2004 :: Boundary Crossings, Gatov Galleries, California State University, Long Beach, California.
    
2004 :: From Scratch, CrazySpace, 18th Street Complex, Santa Monica, California.  

2004 :: Gone But Not Forgotten, Gatov Galleries, California State University, Long Beach, California.

2003 :: Aging:  people, places & perceptions, Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, California.

2002 :: Armory 2002 Installational, The Armory Center for the Arts, Armory Northwest, Pasadena, California.  

2002 :: Outside In II, Patricia Correia Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California.  

2002 :: Pause, SCA Gallery, Pomona, California.  

2002 :: Insights 2002, University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, California.

2001 :: Big Plastic, The Armory Center for the Arts, Armory Northwest, Pasadena, California.  

2001 :: The Elements, The Second City Council Art Gallery, Long Beach, California.

2000 :: Performing the Formless, Art Office Gallery, California State University, Long Beach.

2000 :: Sculpture/Collage/Mixed Media Exhibit, Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, California.

1999 :: Juried All Media Exhibition, Palos Verdes Art Center, Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

1999 :: On Site at the Gate ’99, Angel’s Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, California.

1999 :: 3rd Annual Arts on Fire, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California.

1999 :: High Heels & Sunglasses, SoFo2 Gallery, Cultural Arts Council of Sonoma County.

1998 :: Mainly Abstract, Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, California.

Education

2002

MFA (Drawing & Painting/Intermedia), California State University, Long Beach, California

1993

BA (Psychology – Honours Program), McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada