What if — and hear me out — you fell down a microscope? Twisting and turning, surrounded by vibrant colors, slowing losing all sense of scale — it would be like a 3D field trip on the Magic School Bus.
That’s something akin to the experience at Psycullescence: A Garden of Imagination, an exhibit by Patrick Shearn at the Galleries of Contemporary Art (GOCA) inside the Ent Center for the Arts, running through March 15.
Shearn, creative director of Poetic Kinetics, is known for large scale public art that has been featured at events such as Coachella, Burning Man and the Olympics. His work, which encourages interactivity, draws inspiration from the natural world. Psycullescence is no different.
Inspired by macro photography of cells, fungi and spores, the exhibit showcases multiple large pieces that seem to emerge from the floor with names like Spore Symphony, Fungal Phantasmagoria and Yeast of Eden.
Crafted from materials such as steel, fabric, polyurethane foam, resin and even a motor to make one piece spin, the works evolved over time as the materials were combined together and paired in unlikely ways. Even different brands of foam allow for different textures and feels.
“It might surprise you. I want it to inspire awe, whimsy and play,” Shearn says.
GOCA director and curator Joy Armstong thinks Shearn’s work allows for a sense of marvel.
“Patrick’s work is dazzling on the surface but also provides vast opportunities to explore deeply,” she says. “It is an activation of imagination, telling us that there are infinite ways to connect, nurture joy, and bring hope into our lives and those of others.”
Of particular note to Armstrong is how Shearn sources and uses his materials, leveraging items that might have been discarded or ones you can find in everyday life.
“I think that ‘capital A’ art often places too much emphasis on acquiring the highest quality and most expensive media if we are to be fine artists,” Armstrong says. “Patrick flips that on its head with his reuse and repurposing of materials, telling us that amazing materials are all around us in our daily lives, and that we can create amazing things by using our imagination to consider the limitless potential in everything.”
Much of Shearn’s work plays with the concept of scale, often creating environments that echo nature and its many moments. Moments like the choreographed movement of flocks of birds, the shape of wind as it flows around us, and the fact that we never really can accurately describe our favorite sunsets to someone who wasn’t there.
“Those sorts of experiences change something physiologically inside of me; it’s a visceral response,” he says. “I want to create that same feeling in other people and explore that resulting connection to nature.”
Coming Home
Born and raised in Black Forest just north of Colorado Springs, Shearn moved back to his hometown from Los Angeles just under three years ago. This is his first-ever indoor gallery show, which fits nicely with a GOCA priority: co-creating with artists to explore ideas that may not yet have come to fruition.
“Not only have we had the extraordinary opportunity to work with this internationally renowned artist as he made an entirely new body of work for our gallery, we have also had the honor to say that we are the first gallery to exhibit Patrick’s art,” Armstrong says.
But Patrick isn’t the only Shearn with an exhibit at GOCA right now. Just around the corner is a room full of work from his mother, Merr. The Creative Process is open through March 1. It’s an amalgamation of over 50 years of her work, featuring pastels, colored pencil drawings and even a sculpture she completed when pregnant with Patrick.
Calling her the most prolific artist he’s ever known, Patrick says much of his mother’s work was made for fun. Thankfully, over the years Merr’s friends and family collected her work, and it’s been borrowed for the show. Merr, a teacher, always had pencils and other art-making material around the house for their family and friends. Some of the kids’ efforts ended up in the trash, some on the fridge.
“That taught me a lesson,” Patrick says. “It wasn’t really about me; the process was what was important — the process is the purpose; the end result is ancillary.”
Both Patrick and Merr have had pieces in the annual Art on the Streets exhibit in downtown Colorado Springs.
On the Runway
In addition to the two exhibits, there’s also a sold-out fashion show on Feb. 28 called House of GOCA: The Psychedelic Garden. Taking inspiration from Psycullescence, the event will feature avant-garde wearable art and fashion creations from nine designers and creative teams along the Front Range. Several of the pieces from House of GOCA will be featured in the Ent Center lobby over the ensuing weeks.
It’s exactly the type of outcome Patrick envisioned when moving back to Colorado Springs. Able to craft and be part of a vibrant community in Los Angeles, Shearn hoped to cultivate the same feeling with the creative community of Colorado Springs.
“Artists and creatives should look to support and nurture each other rather than compete,” he says. “We leaned on friends, we collaborated with each other, and I wanted to take the same approach here and embrace the community. I’ve been lucky in my career, and now I think I have something to offer.”
Shearn has mirrored that approach with Poetic Kinetics too, and the team of around 15 creators in Colorado Springs and Los Angeles. All the fabrication and production for Poetic Kinetics happens in Black Forest, and many local artists and fabricators are part of the team.
“We’ve got welders who’d only ever dealt with like five variations in all their work, and now they’re designing trees,” Shearn says. “It takes them out of their comfort zone but is also hugely fulfilling. I want them to have autonomy to learn, to feel ownership and pride in what we build.”
Armstrong calls Shearn’s sense of collaboration an “innate ethos” as he’s already connected with creative thought partners in divergent fields in Colorado Springs.
“Eight hours a day is a third of your life. You might as well surround yourself with people you like,” Shearn says. “I learned that concept of fun and play and chemistry from my mom. If it’s not fun, what are you doing?”
Explore More of the Ent Center for the Arts
Take a tour of Colorado Springs and Green Mountain Falls with Ent Center Executive Director David Siegel and stop by for their dance performances with local dancer and arts advocate Jordan McHenry. Both stories are part of our Creative Stays in Colorado Springs series.
