The Working Mind of Elizabeth Turk Opens at The Doyle Sept. 6

In a month-long, live exhibition, the creative process is explored as Santa Ana-based artist Elizabeth Turk, a 2010 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship awardee, stations her working studio at The Doyle at Orange Coast College.

In the exhibition “ThinkLab LIVE .002: Extinct Bird Cages,” Turk explores the extinction of birds in the Americas. Members of the public are invited to engage the artist as she reveals the conceptual choices for this work during its progression on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon until 4 p.m. from Sept. 6 until Oct. 4.

The exhibition is curated by The Doyle’s director Tyler Stallings, and a reception for the artist will take place on Thursday, Sept. 27 from 5–8 p.m. An artist talk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 29, at 1 p.m. Admission for both events is free.

In “ThinkLab LIVE .002: Extinct Bird Cages” Turk’s aim is the creation of a cage large enough for humans. This cage is fabricated from a lattice of metal cut silhouettes of specific extinct birds. “Metaphorically, it will be a cage of shadows through a combination of human and bird silhouettes,” she says. The exhibition is the first stage of a large-scale, outdoor installation, destined for the Catalina Island Museum in early 2019, that will connect geographical dots between Orange and Los Angeles counties.

“Turk’s approach to her periodic ‘ThinkLab LIVE’ exhibitions is one of experimentation, exploring concepts outside her more well-known marble sculptures in which she reduces hundreds of pounds of marble to evocative, iconic, organic forms such as mobius cages, ribbons, and collars that have seemingly evolved from nature but really are from the mind of Elizabeth Turk,” says Stallings.

Turk worked with OCC dance department students in the Spring 2018 semester, while working on her exhibition for The Doyle, in order to help develop the choreography for an upcoming participatory performance event on Nov. 3, “Shoreline Project.” The performance — hosted by the Laguna Art Museum — is part of the “Art & Nature Festival.”

A native Californian, Turk is an artist primarily known for marble sculpture. In 2010, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, an Annalee & Barnett Newman Foundation award. In 2011 she received a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, where she began the study of seashells referenced in Shoreline Project. She has been represented by Hirschl & Adler, Modern since 2000, during which time she was awarded with the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant. Today, she splits time between Santa Ana and New York City.

The Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion at Orange Coast College focuses on contemporary visual culture and creates dynamic programming that inspires interaction and dialogue between artists, students, scholars, and local and international communities. Designed by architect Steven Ehrlich the Arts Pavilion features a Main Gallery and Project Gallery.

Upcoming exhibitions for Fall 2018 at The Doyle include:

• “Elizabeth Turk: ThinkLab LIVE .002: Extinct Bird Cages,” Sept. 6–Oct. 4, Project Gallery
• “Amy Elkins: Photographs of Contemporary Masculinity,” Sept. 20–Dec. 1, Main Gallery
• “OCC Faculty Exhibition,” Oct. 18–Dec. 1, Project Gallery

Admission is free for all exhibitions. Hours for “Elizabeth Turk: ThinkLab LIVE .002: Extinct Bird Cages” are Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., Thursday, 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., and Saturday, Noon until 4 p.m. In Fall 2018, the gallery is closed on Fridays and for school holidays.

The Doyle is located next to OCC’s Parking Lot D, off Merrimac Way, building 180, between Starbucks and the Art Center classrooms. A map of Orange Coast College is available at

www.orangecoastcollege.edu

For additional information, call (714) 432-5738, or visit The Doyle website http://orangecoastcollege.edu/DoyleArts