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Roots
by Laura Parker

Everything we see is dependent on what we do not see: the soil, the roots, and the microorganisms. Our world, and that includes us, could not exist without the soil. We walk on it, we eat it, we build with it, we breath it.

Apr 5 - May 30 | More Info
Open Gallery Hours Saturdays 12-4pm

The Bathroom
Residency

18 reasons is non-profit community space and a proud member of the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses.

On The Wall

Roots by Laura Parker

In the Gallery: April 5th - May 30th
Open Gallery Hours Saturdays 12-4pm

About this Exhibition:

Tom Willey, who farms 80 acres in Madera, leaned across his dinner table and extended his open palm toward me. He said, “If my hand were filled with soil, there would be more microorganisms here there than the number of people on this planet.” The diversity of microbes associated with plant roots is enormous, in the order of tens of thousands of species. Yes, I knew there were a lot of microorganisms but somehow this image presented the information in a very different context to me. 

  Since that time I have been fascinated with the hidden world of the soil, from seeing if my senses could detect the transference from soil to plant and visa versa to imagining the hidden world of that landscape. Like most people when I think of landscape I think of trees, plants and sky. But what of the world below—the one I can’t see? Everything we see is dependent on what we do not see: the soil, the roots, and the microorganisms. Our world, and that includes us, could not exist without the soil. We walk on it, we eat it, we build with it, we breath it. 

Artist's Bio:

Laura Parker is a San Francisco based conceptual artist whose work often focuses on agriculture, the environment and social structure. As an interdisciplinary artist she works in drawing, painting, artists books, and installation. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums locally, nationally. She is both a grant recipient (SFAC and California Council on the Humanities) and Eureka Fellowship for Visual Artists nominee (2008). Parker has also been featured in the New York Times, Art Practical, andThe Nation.

Please visit lauraparkerstudio.com for more information on Laura's work, press, and soil tasting work.

Nieuil, acrylic on panel- 48" x 24

The Bathroom Residency

Dear Indian Grocery Store Under the Freeway,

Where did you go? I called. I emailed. You didn’t answer so I stopped by. I walked up to the door but you were gone. Cupping my hands around my eyes, all I could see were bits of neon shelving. A half-consumed bottle of water stood where I expected to find buckets of ice cream in cardamom, mango, and rose.

You did this once before – vanishing unexpectedly. I was sad, but not shocked. Were you a casualty of high rents and fickle hearts? All I knew is that I recognized one less face on a crowded street that seems less and less familiar. Then you reappeared in an unlikely place, sandwiched between a paint shop and a dot-com office. You were barely visible except for a bright vinyl sign illuminating the concrete under the freeway.

I got to know you a little better here. I once spoke to you for exactly 17 minutes before passing on to the register. I know because I would have stayed longer— but my meter ran out. You told me that you were happy. I hope that you still are, wherever you may be. If you return again I’ll be in line, waiting.

Dear Indian Grocery Store Under the Freeway | 2013 | Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik
Site specific installation in the bathroom of 18 Reasons | Turmeric, Cardamom, Mehndi Stencils, Text

Bio:

Born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles to Indian and Japanese Colombian parents, Sita moved to the Bay Area after receiving her B.A., Cum Laude, in Studio Art from Scripps College. She also completed an M.F.A. in Fine Art and an M.A. in Visual and Critical Studies from the California College of the Arts. Sita has collaborated with organizations such as 826 Valencia, The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Whitman College, Cal-State Fullerton, the Asian Art Museum and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Sita has been the art features editor for Hyphen magazine and a board member for Kearny Street Workshop. She currently teaches photography and portfolio development at RayKo Photo Center. You can see more of her work at sitabhaumik.com.