Piece of Work

SHELLIFE

Women & Their Work Gallery, through May 10

Inside a partially transparent tent made of eggshell-studded tulle and bright yellow silk, a white ceramic bowl full of what looks like egg yolk sits on a wooden pedestal. The viewer's eye gravitates toward the center of the installation, the bowl holding the vivid, thick liquid, but one's line of vision must pass through the veil of eggshells to focus on it. They create a sort of organic snow, an otherworldly static over the image of the sequestered bowl. Peering into the inviolable space that the tulle-and-fabric shelter creates, one is reminded of the silence of an empty church. Yet this sacred space holds at its center the undiluted, yellow-gold concentrate of new life.

Regina Vater writes that she takes a "shamanistic approach to art." The materials that make up Shellife are commonplace, likely to be found in any thriving household, only vaguely suggestive of sacred rituals: eggshells, a white ceramic bowl, tulle, a small wood table, fabric. What elevates them from everyday to shrinelike is the way Vater has placed them together. Instead of relying on meticulous artistic technique in this piece, she uses the simple, familiar objects themselves as an entry point for viewers into her installation. This allows Shellife to strike a more prosaic spiritual chord, reminding the viewer of the everyday sacredness residing in something as simple and mysterious as an unbroken egg.