{open} is pleased to partner with DDR Projects to present “Housing Complex,” sketches and assemblages  from artist Hilary Norcliffe, curated by John Geldbach.

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 in Bristol, England and raised in Canada, Hilary Norcliffe received her MFA from CSULB and now lives and works in Long Beach, exhibtiing extensively in solo, two-person and group show across the region

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

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

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

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

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