Gigi Scaria

Gigi Scaria. Woodhenge, 2016. , Inspired by a site visit to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site two years ago. Scaria's Woodhenge, 2016 refers directly to the speculative theories about the collapse of the Mississippian civilization that was abandoned by the mid-13th century. Scaria surveys various icons of de-industrialized landscapes and the comparatively new Indian trend toward suburban sprawl. The work is inspired by the migration shift and community collapse in St. Louis' own history and current day new Delhi. The physical erasure of the remnants of the pre-historic, archaeologically distinct community around Cahokia is comparable to the destruction of areas in New Delhi. Industrial-scale developments are uprooting old communities with a long folk history, destroying the "unaesthetic architecture associated with it becomes the subject and object in Scaria's hands. Made up of maquettes of disappearing Delhi domestic spaces, meticulously carved in wood, stacked on top of each other, then cast in steel, Scaria's version both vertically maps the reckless civic decisions and illustrates the beauty in simplistic urban domestic habitats. This totemic sculpture stands as a monument to the building of a civilization past and as an illustration of historic and contemporary social and cultural shifts., This work is part of the exhibition Gigi Scaria: Time on display April 16 - August 14, 2016. Special thanks to Jim and Vicki Reid of Midwest Precision Casting Co.