February 13 – March 31
“Fate and Transport marks an important departure for McCoubrey, a dramatic and fervent response to her time spent observing industrial waste beds and land that has been subjected to hydrofracking on the east coast. Struck by what she calls, “a landscape on life support,” McCoubrey was compelled to move beyond her observations of landscape and instead deliver a fantastical means of escape, stemming from her sculptural and photographic studies of potatoes. McCoubrey’s vehicles are the earthbound made aerial, the humble turned savior, technology that is grown rather
than built. They are meant to rescue us from a dystopian future, where man has damaged the world beyond repair. McCoubrey’s delicate hand and the luminous quality of her landscapes speak to her profound understanding, honed over decades, of the paintings of Dutch masters such as Jacob van Ruisdael. Her figures were composed while looking to the inventive works of Hieronymus Bosch, particularly Ship of Fools (1490–1500). Much as Bosch used his ship to expose the follies of his society, McCoubrey’s vehicles are an admonition, fueled not only by the desire to escape, but to restore.”
—Kerry Bickford, Locks Gallery
