Entrance of AMMO, 938 Royal St. in the French Quarter
Loose bundles of discarded hair extensions and busted up post-Katrina houses are not obvious associations for some people. To artist Loren Schwerd, however, it just makes sense.
In her series of sculptures entitled "Mourning Portrait", currently on exhibition at AMMO, the artist constructs wrecked houses using artificial hair weaves and wire as raw material. The result is delicate, beautiful, and creepy at the same time; when I say creepy, I mean it in a good way.
Each piece plays like an epitaph, paying tribute to unknown histories of Katrina victims that are now symbolized through images of broken architecture. In the center of the gallery floor, a shack-sized shotgun house forces an intimate view of smaller sculptures. Some of them are placed on neutral white shelves while others levitate on the walls like reliefs inside decorative oval frames. While these works dangerously flirt with familiar post-Katrina cliche's, it remains difficult to deny their intrigue. The artist avoids the sin of exhausting the same idea over and over by replacing houses with other New Orleans-style cultural indicators. An old-fashioned ladies hat morphs into branchy tree limbs with swirly tufts that are tied at the ends. A weaved bird's nest sits in the window, while in the other corner of the gallery, tangled up Mardi Gras beads drape on tree branches above the door. At the exhibition's opening, there were squinty-eyed art students pointing at little hair ribbons that remind them of what they used to wear when they were little girls. There is an inescapable, tactile desire to explore and excavate the multitude of surfaces with your eyes.
The magnetic quality of these artworks make this visually- appealing exhibition a success. So if you are wandering through the French Quarter, why not take the time to wander down Royal Street and see these works in person. In my opinion, it is truly worth a good look. AMMO is located at 938 Royal Street, in the French Quarter. The gallery hours are Thursday and Friday, 11 - 7pm, Saturday and Sunday 12 - 5pm, or by appointment. (Slideshow, as promised, below.)
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