WHO COUNTEST THE STEPS OF THE SUN
Nino Mier Gallery presents Who Countest the Steps of the Sun, the latest solo exhibition by Cindy Phenix. In this new presentation, Phenix adopts an ecocentric perspective, infusing her works with hope for the future endurance and coexistence of all life on Earth.
April 30 - June 8, 2024
An artist working across mediums, Cindy Phenix is well known for her kaleidoscopic paintings comprising outlined, fragmented figures and scenes. She begins each painting with a collage focusing on a thematic interest—in this case, ecocentrism and emerging climate technologies.
In past bodies of work, Phenix explored monstrosity, cyborgs, and the theatrum mundi. Her latest exhibition maintains a theatrical quality, filled with moments of performance (a ballerina here, a bard there), but emphasizes an environmental consciousness, one less focused on the human.
But she also erases the background environment/foreground figure dynamic in favor of a more networked perspective that transcends individual actions. Suns, moons, animals, flowers and trees appear on the same perspectival plane as books, maps, and figures. Amidst these forms, the work radiates hope for making the planet more habitable for all life forms.
In de-centering the human from her paintings, Phenix challenges viewers to consider the interplay between human-created structures and natural forms. What results is a psychedelic aesthetic, in which figures morph into floral shapes, landscapes merge with maps and books, and architectural elements blend with organic life.
Drawing from art history, Phenix's influences include Romanticism, Renaissance, and Netherlandish painting. The exhibition takes its title from a poem by William Blake, in which its speaker personifies a tired, yearning sunflower who watches time pass as the sun crosses the sky.
Like the poem, Phenix’s exhibition registers a desire to reach beyond the human to capture something more cosmic. Who Countest the Steps of the Sun encourages us to rediscover Earth as an archive of possibilities for the future, emphasizing connection and renewal rather than abandonment.