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The Washington Post
Thursday, April 22, 1999
By Ferdinand Protzman
Time, Life and Found Objects
M. J. Tierney's Stylish Assemblages at Ralls
Time is one of man's most marvelous
and comforting inventions. Born of some innate need to mark our
species existence on the walls of an unfathomable universe, chronology
has evolved from basic measurements such as night and day into
a precious commodity marked to the millisecond.
But as Maureen Jordan Tierney's powerful, captivating exhibition
of sculptural assemblages and mixed-media collages at the Ralls
Collection demonstrates, time is as fleeting as its creators.
Within the confines of a system developed by transient beings
to measure the infinite, we search for meaning, understanding
and enlightenment. Then, just when the whole megillah may be
starting to make sense, our time runs out.
Turning such weighty, potentially depressing notions into art
is no mean feat. But Tierney pulls it off in fine style, thanks
to her intelligence, wit and talent for transforming found objects
into art. Aesthetically, intellectually and emotionally, this
is her most mature and fully realized work to date.
As the exhibit's title suggests, Tierney confronts the ephemeral
nature of time and existence by embracing the notion of life
as a mysterious physical and spiritual transition. The search
for meaning is a recurrent theme in her work.
The assemblages are made from a wide array of objects that Tierney
finds on the streets or buys in flea markets. Bedsprings, old
pianos and organs, typewriters and radios appear to be among
her favorite materials.
She transforms this odd mélange into highly appealing
works- it's almost impossible to keep one's hands off the keyboards-
that feature intricat4e systems for ordering information or imagery.
These systems offer the viewer many options but no definite outcomes.
"Galaxy Chooser" is a large assemblage made from an
old radio set topped by a wooden cabinet that has been divided
into a pegboard and gridlike boxes that Tierney has filled with
drink coasters, which can be hung on the pegs. On each coaster
she has painted an imaginary constellation. Viewers are free
to create their own cosmos by hanging different combinations
of celestial bodies on the board. Like most of the assemblages
in the show, "Galaxy Chooser" gently pulls the viewer's
eyes toward the heavens. Tierney's ability to incorporate something
as banal as a coaster into a coherent cosmological exploration
has made her assemblages the most interesting currently produced
in Washington.
Discarded objects naturally evoke their past, yet they exist
in the present and imply the future. In previous exhibitions,
however, her eye for the possibilities presented by found objects
has also produced the occasional piece that seemed frivolous
or contrived.
That is not the case here, due in large part to her incorporation
of some form of grid pattern in every work. Whether it is the
wires of a discarded bedspring in "Aftermath" or the
checkerboard of plywood squares on which Tierney has painted
a haunting figure in "Topological Presence", the grid
gives her assemblages a new thematic and stylistic rigor.
That feeling is even stronger in the collages, which look like
mosaics made from inch-square pieces of paper. This sectioning
off calls to mind the way we divide time and space for a variety
of purposes. But the compartmentalization is also an invitation
to individually investigate each square, and then try to see
how they all fit together.
On a purely visual level, the collages are charming, like miniature
patchwork quilts hanging on the wall. But these are not just
cute bits of paper. They convey some sobering ideas.
"Just outside Ground Zero, Not Having Saved the Textbooks"
combines collage and painting on a wood panel. The tiny images
show bits and pieces of 19th- century industrial machinery that
look quaint in light of current technology. Why worry about springs
when gigabytes rule the day?
But Tierney has stamped snatches of text into the wood that surrounds
the pictures of pistons and flywheels. When you read clues like
"spring steel has a carbon content of…" and realize
you have no idea, the title hits home.
"Topological
Presence"
70 x 47 x 5"
burned, painted, sanded wood, 1999
collection of Jaime Frankfurt