October 18, 2021
Preview event Friday, November 5, exhibit runs through November 21
The Carriage Barn Arts Center has announced a first-of-its-kind exhibit opening in November featuring a rules-based installation project by artist Cynthia MacCollum. Entitled Thirteen Moons, the exhibit takes visitors on the artist’s unique journey through 2020-2021, as experienced on walks in the New Canaan Nature Center, and guided by the cycles of the thirteen moons. For each moon cycle, MacCollum adopted a unique set of parameters and made twenty-four visits to the New Canaan Nature Center.
For example, during Hunter Moon she collected specimens at the Nature Center, then drew the specimens on a rice paper scroll, noting the place and time. For Corn Moon, audio recordings made during each hour are compiled and played as ambient sound in the gallery. A variety of artistic mediums and scientific methods are employed to transport visitors and simulate the artist’s experience. Project research material and sketchbooks are displayed in vitrines, along with natural specimens and journals recording the artist’s thoughts. The exact moment when the rule was followed has been assiduously recorded so that every piece in the exhibit is marked with a timestamp.
"The cycle of the moon has been used for thousands of years to organize time," says MacCollum. "In this period of cultural dislocation from natural rhythms, in particular the chaos of 2020, I found solace and structure in syncing my life and practice to the cycle of the moon." The project began at the height of the pandemic while under quarantine with the full moon on May 7, 2020, and follows thirteen moons through 2021: Flower, Strawberry, Buck, Sturgeon, Corn, Harvest, Hunter, Beaver, Cold, Wolf, Snow, Worm, and Pink Moon.
Cynthia MacCollum is a painter, printmaker, and photographer who lives and works in New Canaan, CT. Her work has been shown at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT; Elisa Contemporary Art, NY; First Street Gallery in New York; The Kellogg Gallery at Cal Poly Pomona, Blue Print Gallery in Dallas, Panopticon Gallery in Boston, and internationally in Cadaques, Spain, the UK, France, and Hong Kong.
The exhibit runs from November 6-21, gallery hours are Wednesday-Saturday from 10am-3pm and Sunday 1-5pm. A selection of original works and limited edition prints by MacCollum will be available for sale. Tickets are available for a patron and supporter preview event with the artist on Friday, November 5 from 6-8pm. For more information visit carriagebarn.org/thirteen-moons/ or call 203-594-3638.
