PRESS RELEASE
SCORCHED EARTH - WILMA CRUISE & RICHARD JOHN FORBES
Feb 8 – Mar 9, 2025
Scorched Earth – A Conversation
Two fierce winds fan this flame.
At first glance, there is little similarity between the work of Richard John Forbes and Wilma Cruise. He works by carving stone in the form of rose quartz and marble and using found objects such as metal; she sculpts in clay and has her work cast into bronze. Less frequently she also uses found objects.
Forbes’ work holds the spark of abstract expressionism, while Cruise’s work holds the torch to figurative expressionism. But what links them is a concern for the environment and the fact that the earth has been scorched by human hubris and greed. The works have felt the heated lick of an open flame whether to vitrify clay, temper steel or melt igneous rock to the state of glass. Sharing this commonality of purpose suggested an experiment that resulted in the exhibition “Scorched Earth”.
Wilma Cruise and Richard John Forbes - 2025
