LOS GATOS, Calif. – When carved, gilded and decorated frames fell out of fashion in the mid-20th century, another idea took hold: Modern paintings needed only a simple strip along the edge. Such handmade frames were not only expensive, but also screamed ‘antique’. When artist Holly Lane was a painting student at San Jose State University in the mid-1980s, she noticed that she observe that according to mid-century principles, “a good frame should be unobtrusive.”
In response, Lane has spent nearly forty years exploring and exploiting the possibilities of relic-like frames early Christian engravings and marginals. In her art – which hybridizes painting and sculpture – everything works together to create shrines to the natural world and honor its sacredness. At the entrance to Lane’s show in Los Gatos is the piece that gives the exhibition its name: “Not Enough Time to Love the World” (2022). It presents an image of bubbles, a symbol of transience. Immediately above, carved into the frame, is a winged hourglass that evokes the passage of time and floats beneath an arch that symbolizes the duration of our lives. Together, these images tell us that contemplation of nature is now increasingly charged by a keen awareness of the threats it faces.
The artist created “After the Storm” (2012), one of the more personal pieces in the exhibition, when a forced move took her to a new location outside the city. The complicated crown signals triumph after trouble and the scenes revealed in the side portals – including a starry sky, a duck on books and two dogs fighting over underwear – add wonder and gentle humour.
Another work, ‘Gentle Muse’ (2010), celebrates trees and their functions as fuel, shade, building materials and pharmaceuticals. The Gothic side carvings of the frame are reminiscent of the architecture of churches and are complemented by cylindrical apothecary jars. The central image of the tree, executed in graphite on mylar, has an elegiac quality that works with the reliquary-like character of the frame.
Through her research into framing, Lane has devised new ways to present a secular sacred image, with nature at its center. Her art, with its interwoven symbols and images, invites a deeper contemplation of the place and meaning of nature in a time of environmental crisis.
Holly Lane – Not enough time to love the world continues at the New Museum Los Gatos through January 12, 2025. The exhibition is curated by Helaine Glick.
