Flight of the Polychromatic Zooids

Jen Rose: Flight of the Polychromatic Zooids

Firehouse Art Center 

667 4th Avenue, Longmont, CO 80501

January 7-February 7, 2021

Admission: Free

Review by Madeleine Boyson

Anticipating flight as I slipped through the door of the Firehouse Art Center in Longmont, I half-expected to catch artist Jen Rose’s work in mid-air. Instead, I found myself happily sunk into a colorful, more subaquatic dreamworld. Flight of the Polychromatic Zooids, on view at Firehouse until February 7, is Rose’s solo, one-piece exhibition curated by Brandy Coons and inspired by marine colonies. Yet unlike the images of departure or frenzy conjured by the title’s noun “flight,” the Dallas, Texas-based artist’s sculptural installation settles the viewer, drawing them not up into the air, but down into the calming depths of the sea.

On view at the Firehouse Art Center in Longmont: Jen Rose’s installation Flight of the Polychromatic Zooids, 2019-2020, colored porcelain, steel wire, and stainless steel; original music composition by David Thompson. Image by Madeleine Boyson.

The focal point of Rose’s work is a mass of 1,250 hand-rolled, hand-colored porcelain tubes. Each form is a whimsical interpretation of a Pyrosome—a free-floating, undersea colony comprising hundreds or thousands of cloned Zooid organisms. [1] No two of these thin tubes are exactly alike; they bend and twist at varying lengths and are scaled into five high- and low-value color saturations. Rose’s method for coloring clay by working ceramic-based pigments directly into the porcelain (rather than glazing) maintains the material’s porous surface and also the organic integrity of the work. Hung in irregular rows, like curtains, by steel wires from flat crates below the ceiling, the Pyrosomes end up resembling hand-dipped candles or so many mounted, prehistoric teeth.

A view from underneath Jen Rose’s Flight of the Polychromatic Zooids. Image by Madeleine Boyson.

The porcelain forms of Flight are indicative of the artist’s 15-year deep-dive into biology, natural environments, and underwater creatures. Rose’s exploration of the sciences has also led her to associate underexplored, underwater ecosystems with the subconscious and systems of the collective. As a result—and as the artist asserts—Flight plays with subtle change and movement in synergies, and represents “a community of interrelated objects/people that function at their best with active participation and cooperation.” [2] While the implications of the diverse collective are clear in the work itself, these concepts were practically played out during installment: Rose could not be present for the process due to COVID-19 and relied on gallery staff to put together the delicate work. [3]

A close-up view of Jen Rose’s Flight of the Polychromatic Zooids. Image by Madeleine Boyson.

Yet as fascinating as Rose’s porcelain forms are on their own, the success of the installation lies in it’s multi-sensory experience. Every aspect of Firehouse’s main gallery has been maximized to “[mimic] an underwater environment.” [4] Charcoal grey walls sink the viewer into the tranquil waters of the deep. Strategically placed lights shine through the porcelain rows from above, casting moving shadows on the walls and floor, and recalling how sunlight filters through open water. Composer David Thompson’s original musical soundscape, which softly permeates the whole gallery space, offers an auditory component and recreates that feeling of hearing someone’s muffled voice while your own head is underwater. Flight is even tactile—encouraged by Firehouse’s attendant, the viewer may feel the Pyrosome tubes, which are cool to the touch and elicit a light tinkling sound when brushed against each other.

Nest in Green, 2020, porcelain and linen, by Jen Rose in the foreground, with Rose’s Divisible By Eight installed on the wall in the background. Image by Madeleine Boyson.

Jen Rose, Divisible By Eight, 2015, porcelain. Image by Madeleine Boyson.

As a result, the best way to view Flight is to be absorbed by it, to enter into the space alone and receptive. Meandering around, sitting under, and interacting with the Pyrosomes help create the feeling of suspension underwater. In this almost womb-like space, Rose and curator Coons invite the viewer to a personal meditation, suggesting that visitors take advantage of restricted capacities during the pandemic and make solo appointments to see Flight in situ. Rose’s installation is worth a visit and the drive from Denver, and viewers will also be rewarded with two smaller Rose works (porcelain and touchable, too) that augment the space. One of these, Divisible by Eight—a grouping of tentacles stuck to the wall—further shores up the theme. Until February 7, the ocean will stay in a firehouse in downtown Longmont.

Madeleine Boyson is an independent writer, curator, lecturer, and artist located in Denver, Colorado. Her scholarship is concentrated American modernism and (dis)ability studies, including issues of care and dependency as well as the wholeness of the body. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art History and History from the University of Denver.

[1] According to the artist’s statement in the Firehouse Art Center’s Gallery Guide.

[2] Ibid.

[3] According to a Firehouse gallery attendant.

[4] According to the Firehouse Gallery Guide.