Known for making paintings by leaving canvases outside to weather under careful arrangements of plants and scattered, colorful pigments, Sam Falls’ ceramics at 303 Gallery offer a more direct appreciation of the flora he depicts. While the canvas works feature silhouettes of plants (created as the natural material blocks the pigments from reaching the canvas), the ceramics include plant life which has been rolled into the clay and burnt out in the kiln. Falls then applies glazes which flow and fade to suggest memories of the original natural material. At the center of this piece is a photo taken on instant film (a technology that, like its subject, enjoyed a limited lifespan) of flowers in Central Park, which he returned to and harvested once dead to include in the ceramic form. (On view in Chelsea through July 28th).
