Skummi & Co. Gallery is pleased to present a combined exhibition of Ashley Lloyd and Alex Roulette.

Lloyd’s intimate sculptures of animal parts and precious materials are an expression of her beliefs in animism and syncretism. Having been raised in the South, Christianity and superstition are often synonymous in daily routine. This leads her to hold an almost religious respect for certain objects out of belief that a spirit or soul possibly resides in it.

Lloyd is spellbound by the beauty of natural and floral forms that bear within them a reminder of decay and death. Not unlike traditional vanitas, Lloyd does not shy away from using skeletal parts but integrate their fragility and jewel like iridescence with more common objects, exploring the duality of death within life and vice versa.

Roulette’s new paintings are formed by a combination of personal photography and collected images. The paintings depict staged narratives reflecting private moments that show stages of male adolescence. Using traditional “buddy films” as inspiration, Roulette extracts the transformative moments that alter the course of the characters’ development.

The paintings indulge in open ended voyeurism, a peering into extremely intimate moments without specific overt drama. The arid deserts of the road trip provide a sublime environment for the figures to diffuse into, contrasting bold man made colors and quiet earth tones. The figures are led to journey into an inner utopia by the vastness of the desert landscape bringing a deeper awareness of what they possess, both material and immaterial.

Roulette’s paintings are largely affected by a 12,000-mile journey across the United States, which has altered his view of America where he calls home.