No Bull: A solo exhibition by Brock DeBoer

Brock DeBoer’s artistic process as a ceramic sculptor utilizes porcelain, historical motifs and surface treatments to recontextualize everyday objects, items from his past, and objects of popular culture. Many are highly nostalgic to his generation and beyond touching on many facets of everyday life. DeBoer’s highly crafted casts in porcelain become archival, altering their permanence while questioning the value of these everyday objects. DeBoer draws influence from his midwestern upbringing combined with the ever-changing and vastly diverse landscape of Los Angeles and the rural landscape of Joshua Tree.

Using his extensive knowledge of ceramic materials and processes DeBoer brings his sculptures a new life becoming heirlooms of the 21st century. By using classical motifs of cobalt patterns and true to life finishes DeBoer’s casts become suspended somewhere in the past and disguised in the present.

For DeBoer, this latest body of works expresses his accumulation of his surroundings as he transforms simple objects such as rocks, logs, hats, and cactus into porcelain. Reinterpreting the idea of a ‘still-life’ DeBoer simplifies the raw articles to create tension and balance within the sculptures. With his straightforward approach of representation, he hopes to present the most truthful versions of the things he encounters everyday.