Ancillary Ancestry: An Ulterior Genealogy by Chris Garofalo

Ancillary Ancestry suspends macrobiotic forms amid the glass bi-level stairwell in the lobby. With this installation, Chris Garofalo introduces a crossbreed of organically inspired specimens to a functional space, thus transforming visitors into explorers of an alternate environment. Commingling the strange with the familiar, Chris Garofalo’s hybrid forms envision potential relationships between Earth’s species during imaginary eras of time. Commingling the strange with the familiar, Chris Garofalo’s hybrid forms envision potential relationships between Earth’s species during imaginary eras of time. Garofalo’s forms appropriate characteristics from both flora and fauna, fusing qualities that result in physiognomies both beautiful and alien. Ranging in scale from the immense to the minute, Garofalo’s highly detailed clay sculptures reveal a devotion to life forms and a curiosity about a world evolved without the impact of humans. Garofalo’s delicate and sometimes aggressive forms point to the fragility of nature while conflating the senses of wonder and alienation that arise in an increasingly hybridized and technological world.