The Patience of Ordinary Things by Kerry Phillips

Aug 7

Miami, FL – May 18, 2024 – Locust Projects welcomed Miami’s community of artists, collectors, arts leaders, and Board Members for the opening of Kerry Phillips’ powerful new installation, “The patience of ordinary things.”

The immersive exhibition weaves a deeply personal story about caring for aging parents and the end of life journey, using found objects, moving projections and spatial design to create shared reflections on life, loss, and legacy.

In a bold departure from her recent show at the Bass Museum, her massive, site-specific installation at Locust Projects transforms the 2,600 sq ft Main Gallery with a family “heirloom” transported from her parents backyard in Denton, Texas placed at the center. It delves into the complex emotions and experiences surrounding aging, memory loss, and the essence of human connection. Phillips immerses us in the deeply personal narrative of her aging parents’ care through interplay of video, moving projections, and spatial design that evokes an emotive response and fosters a communal space for shared reflections on life, loss, and legacy.

The exhibition includes unexpected platforms for video projections including a Roomba and a “deck” of monitors capturing the minutiae of daily life through repetitive, seemingly mundane gestures, such as folding laundry or playing with cards, which anchor those experiencing memory loss to the present.

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Closing Event: Sweets & Smiles- Kerry Philips’ Candy-Making Workshop

Weaving a deeply personal story about caring for aging parents, Phillips’ exhibition in the Main Gallery was turned into a veritable candy-making factory in homage to her parents’ annual holiday gift-making tradition.

Everyone who came was recruited – some helped make her family’s candy recipes like peanut brittle, millionaires, and “noodlies,” while others worked on cutting colorful paper shapes decorating jars to fill with candy to give as a gift. (See below)