Never Work is pleased to announce a show of new works by Hilary Harnischfeger. In her drawings, using layers of paper piled flat, coiled or bundled, Harnischfeger creates elaborate reliefs by carving into the built-up surfaces. The resulting work at once seems to be a terrain and a microscopic vision. Her sculptures are similarly punctured and burrowed into to reveal the formations within.

Deep colors – reds, purples, greens – seep through the cracks of the layered paper of the drawings, bringing richness to the jagged layers. Situated between the paper mountains are tar pits, lakes of precious gemstones, and fossilized twigs or bones. The effect is that of viewing a fantastical landscape or the cellular makeup of an organism.

In her excavations Harnischfeger uncovers strange and ancient forms. Movement, the implication of pattern where there is none, flatness and shine all combine to describe a space that is otherworldly yet familiar.