Untitled (Juniper)
Virginia Overton, Untitled (Juniper), Lassonde Art Trail.Photo Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker.
Untitled (Juniper), 2014
Virginia Overton
Mild steel, paint
Upcoming in September
Virginia Overton’s work often focuses on the physiological properties of sculpture, such as the effects of matter, weight, density, and luminosity.
Her sculpture Untitled (Juniper) is a fully functioning weathervane with a silhouette of a juniper tree as the central design element. Some species of juniper are also known as cedars (the common name for the Juniperus virginiana is the eastern red cedar).
This tree species is native to Ontario and is also commonly found throughout the southern United States, where Overton grew up. The artist often uses milled cedar in her sculptures, but here it is more akin to an ode, both to her own relationship with cedars and to those newly planted across Biidaasige Park. The shape of the tree is gilded to catch and reflect the light as it tracks the direction of the wind.
Virginia Overton
American
Virginia Overton creates sculptures and installations by repurposing materials drawn from industrial, agricultural, and architectural contexts. Through decisive interventions, Overton recontextualizes these ordinary objects to reveal their intrinsic properties, shaped by repeated handling and the traces of their prior use.
Recent solo exhibitions include Kunst Museum Winterthur, Switzerland; Frist Art Museum, Nashville; Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London; Socrates Sculpture Park, New York; Don River Valley Park, Toronto and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Overton participated in the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2022.
Overton has realized permanent public art installations at Delta Air Lines Terminal C, LaGuardia Airport, Queens, New York; Comune di Orbetello, Monte Argentario, Italy; The Refinery at Domino, Brooklyn, New York; and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Ohio.
Portrait of Virginia Overton. Photo Francesco Allegretto.
