Group Show · Fish and Flowers

August 15, 2020  –  September 12, 2020 (Virtual) 

Artists: Elle Rotstein and Colin Holloway 

Fish and Flowers 

As partners, collaborators, and individual artists, Elle Rotstein (b. Los Angeles, 1991) and Colin Sussingham (b. New York, 1989), both Brooklyn based artists, have created a body of work for Compound Yucca Valley. A fresh series that emphasizes the ephemeral in subject matter, their individual practices, and the impermanence of their materials. 

For Elle, her passion professionally, (freelance floral designer) and artistically, involves working with the natural world. Her drawings use floral imagery to symbolize and represent elements of her emotional and physical experiences. Her organic sculptures are reflections of her travels, foraging for materials that embody the land and culture from which it grows. A form of ecological portraiture, and investigation of the desire humans have to possess and control nature.

For Colin, his being and practice has a consistent and natural element of transience. His informal and rapid photography lends himself to capture fleeting actions, expressions or moments of person place or thing.

This body of work was created during their Covid-19 quarantine. With all trips canceled, and forced to stay in place, the two artists worked within their means and the materials at hand. They dove into their nostalgia of past travels, and pulled images of the ephemeral. With Colin’s photos, Elle delicately cut and wove the pieces together, creating relationships or narratives within their theme. Their use of newsprint was a purposeful choice, desired for its temporality and ability to freely bleed. Fish and Flowers, a symbol of impermanence, and a self-portrait of their collaboration.