Ancestry and Legacy at Highfield Hall

ANCESTRY + LEGACY

AT HIGHFIELD HALL

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIA CUMES

Highfield Hall’s new exhibit, Ancestry + Legacy, is a meditation on how past, present, and future are inextricably intertwined. Artists in the show contemplate how their own unique ancestries influence both their present lives and future legacies. “The subject of ancestry is a natural inspiration for artists working in a wide variety of media from painting, drawing, and sculpture to ceramics and photography,” says curator and artist, John Moore, who conceived of the exhibit and who posed a series of challenging questions to artists to respond to. “The purpose of this exhibition is to facilitate a dialog with the artists and audience engaging in a process with these ideas through the power of questioning,” Moore explains. The exhibit is on view at Highfield Hall, September 2 through October 31, 2020. For hours and information, please visit highfieldhallandgardens.org.

John Cira’s sculptural piece, Thinker, is made partially from a former department store manikin while the figure’s head is made out of pasta. “My intent was for the piece—and the head in particular—to symbolize the distress and confusion that we are currently going through,” he says.

Artist Jackie Reeves straightens her work, Onward and Upward. “This painting is based off of a photograph that my mother took when she was in her camping days as a young person in the 1950s, and I’ve used the photograph as a reference but altered certain elements with paint to give it timeless relevance,” Reeves explains.

Artist Richard Neal’s piece, Fables of the Reconstruction, explores the way in which history has been passed on. “I painted all the books white to represent the white-washing of history,” Neal explains while carefully arranging his installation’s many pieces.

Artists participating in Highfield Hall’s new Ancestry + Legacy exhibit are photographed outside Highfield Hall in Falmouth. From left: Mark Chester, Jon Goldman, Kimberly Sheerin, Hollis Engley, Nate Olin, Jan Lhormer, Jon Moore, Jackie Reeves, John Cira, and Richard Neal.

Hollis Engley’s series, Family Stories, combines old family photographs and accompanying stories. “These images, which were passed on to me when my parents died, tell the story of several generations of my family. My hope is that this project will inspire others to illustrate their own lives and pass on their family history to their children or grandchildren,” Engley explains.

Ceramic artist Kimberly Sheerin holds her piece Proud to be an American? Embedded in the ceramic vase are references to our current social and political climate and the vase’s lid is made to look like the capitol building. “I also wanted this piece to celebrate Americans of all kinds, which is what I believe this country is all about,” Sheerin says. John Moore is photographed with his photographic collage, We know nothing, We know something, in the show he conceived of, participated in, and curated. The inspiration for Ancestry + Legacy sprang from Moore’s long-held interest in exploring links between the present and past in his work. For this current exhibit, Moore posed some challenging questions to artists, such as “what could be the legacy of the current ideological, emotional, cultural and political climate in the US?” and “do artists have responsibilities or obligations to the communities and culture in which they work?”

Painter Jan Lhormer’s two paintings, Estuary (right) and Exotic Travel Imagined (left) explore themes of ancestry and our evolutionary beginnings in the depths of the ocean. “I’m particularly interested in our connection to nature and the importance of conserving our environment for future generations,” she explains.