Jill O'Bryan: Breathing with the Elements

Thousands of New Mexicans have passed Jill O’Bryan’s yellow-and-black billboards on I-25 South between Santa Fe and Las Vegas, New Mexico. The latest sign read “7.5 billion of us breathing together right this moment.” Not too far from where it sat is O’Bryan’s studio, situated atop a mesa outside Las Vegas. This is where she breathes, connects with the earth and creates artwork distilled from her experience.

Breathing with the Elements offers an intimate window into O’Bryan’s world. She explores her relationship to the land through new breath paintings, eight-foot frottages (ground rubbings) and small, never-before-exhibited photographs. New works from O’Bryan’s well-known series of breath drawings align the breath with the body, and the mind with the world.

"Where there is earth and sky and breath, there must also be light. My white plaster cones are geometric expressions of earth meeting sky. They lift toward the sky and reach down toward the ground, linking the two."