As artists and friends, Joshua and Santiago have been creating collaborative exhibitions for over twenty years. “Roots and Shoots” explores visual, acoustic, emotional, and healing forces through photographs, light, sound, and objects. Although the expression of their artwork is very different, both Joshua and Santiago are interested in shifts of perception that expand one’s understanding of humanity.  

As an artist, Joshua seeks to create experiences with his artwork. He does so by thinking of place and community, then develops an installation that highlights aspects of that place and community. In this exhibition Joshua addresses the shared name “Lux”, he has included plants from local retailer, Oak Creek Plants and Flowers, and he has invited his friend and sound therapist, Jennifer Bacwar – Blue Bindu, to perform a sound bath for the duration of the opening. Her holistic practice will envelop the audience as they navigate the gallery. Joshua is also including a photograph (edition of ten) that references his current profession as a merchant marine. This is a life of introspection while at sea, and one of new discoveries while at global ports. 

Santiago makes art about the human predicament and our ability to process individual experiences and desires through imagination, reverie, and dreams. In this exhibition, his sculptures use scale, fragmentation, and displaced sounds to lead the audience away from reality. The wooden figures are rendered to convey emotion, an intangible and subjective entity that resides within. The use of duct work stems from its function as the circulatory respiration of a building. Bringing the inside out and the outside in. Lastly, his use of the suitcase and chanclas are personal references to feelings of displacement and desire.

The friendship and collaboration of Joshua and Santiago are also important elements to this exhibition. It is a way of learning from each other, creating outside their individual practice, and finding meaning that extends beyond their anticipation. 

A special thanks to Jennifer Bacwar for her generosity and willingness to participate in the opening reception.