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.
About Chris Garofalo
Chris Garofalo worked in printmaking and graphic design before discovering her passion for sculpture. A native of Illinois, she has lived in Chicago since 1980. She has been exhibiting her sculptures since 1991, including a highly acclaimed installation at the Garfield Park Conservatory in 2005. In 2007 she received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painter and Sculptor Grant Award and is currently represented by Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago.