SCATTER TERRAIN

June 1 - August 10, 2023
Closing Reception: August 10, 5-7PM

Curated by Anthony Cervino and Shannon Egan

FEATURING ARTISTS:

Avye Alexandres, Chad Andrews, Sarah Aziz, Jackie Brown, Stefani Byrd, Zoë Charlton,
Locus Xiaotong Chen, Sarah Crofts, Jason Cytaki, Jon Duff, Jason Ferguson, Els Geelen,
Stephen Grossman, Stacy Isenbarger, Leekyung Kang, Heather Leier, Julia Matejcek,
Ryan Sarah Murphy, Sarah Nance, Ken Reker, Dan Rule, Samantha Sanders,
Stephanie Serpick, Casey Jex Smith, Chloe Wilwerding

The term “scatter terrain,” borrowed from role-playing and war games, refers to miniature fragments of architecture, natural features, or small props that provide a visual aid for players. This exhibition presents pockets of “terrain” – representations of peculiar landscapes, architectural gestures, intimate domestic corners – by 25 contemporary artists. The videos, drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, and sculpture in the exhibition offer varied approaches to notions of home and place.

This exhibition was initially conceived and curated during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when most of us were reckoning with solitude and longing for new places and people. Several art objects were created when the artists were sheltering at home, and they articulated their anxieties and awareness of their limited domestic spaces through their works. Now, as we have returned to a “normal” world, the works shown here may be seen in relation to other fractures and traumas in our environment. For instance, the invented landscapes and abstracted spaces echo our concerns about the ongoing climate crisis. Because some of the artists depict terrains that defiantly resist conventional illustrations of sublime, pristine nature, the works might be seen as fantastical dystopias. Other artists tackle contemporary social issues of personal and political identity to question the notion of belonging, within a persistent, and perhaps increasingly hostile world. What started as an eager curiosity to connect with distant lives and locations has shifted toward an ongoing reckoning with an ailing world and an urgent need for new perspectives. 

Leekyung Kang, Invented Landscape, 2020
screenprinting and etching, 15 x 15 inches each

ABOUT EJECTA PROJECTS:

Founded by artist Anthony Cervino and art historian Shannon Egan, Ejecta Projects is an art gallery, an artist’s studio, and a quiet space to consider collaborative artistic and curatorial undertakings. Located in downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Ejecta Projects not only offers exhibition and consignment opportunities for artists, but also serves as a gesture toward community investment, a place for connection among people who crave an atmosphere of warmth and creativity. The space is conceived as the progeny of a 2015 co-written book and co-curated exhibition titled Ejecta. Ejecta Projects, like its earlier iteration, examines themes of failure and success, parenthood and marriage, materiality and mortality. Exhibitions and endeavors not only reflect these personal and professional preoccupations, but also respond to encounters with a broad repertoire of artists and engaged audiences.

Anthony Cervino is an artist-educator who has exhibited his work professionally for over 20 years. He is Professor of Art at Dickinson College, where he has taught sculpture since 2006. A native of Pennsylvania, Cervino studied art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Towson University before settling in Carlisle, PA. His sculptures have been included in recent exhibitions at The Gallery at Flashpoint in Washington, DC, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the Maine College of Art, the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, The Arlington Arts Center, the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, and the Susquehanna Museum of Art, among others.

Shannon Egan received her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her MA and PhD in the History of Art from Johns Hopkins University. She served as Director of the Schmucker Art Gallery at Gettysburg College, where she curated exhibitions of contemporary and historical art and taught courses in art history, from 2007 through 2023. Beginning July 2023, Shannon will be the Director of the Trout Gallery, the Art Museum of Dickinson College. With Marthe Tolnes Fjellestad, she is the co-editor and co-curator of the book and traveling exhibition titled Across the West and Toward the North: Norwegian and American Landscape Photography.