Vincent Pocsik: Could be Gardens

Could be Gardens features eight new wall and floor-based sculptures crafted in oak and walnut, including a unique sculpture that doubles as a bench for visitors. Each sculpture draws from Pocsik’s lexicon of symbols, referencing elements from both the manmade and natural worlds, uniting cans, shoes, and tires, with flowers, hands, cacti and fruit. 

This exhibition serves as a meditation on memory, reflecting on Pocsik’s childhood home in Ohio and his current residence in Los Angeles. In both settings, Pocsik observes the nuanced commingling of urban detritus with the persistent growth of organic forms. Processed through a distinctly surreal language, the sculptures find cacti with ears growing from a discarded drag race car tire, a large flower with an eye growing from a boot or wrapping around a can, and a bench complete with lemons, ears and hands. 

The animated nature of Poscik’s objects are further heightened through the highly realistic rendering of each piece. Originally trained in architecture, Pocsik employs both digital and analog methods to craft each piece. The process begins with detailed graphite drawings, which are transformed digitally using three dimensional modeling and animation software. The wood components are then roughly cut in the artist’s studio with a computer numerical control machine and glued together. Each form is meticulously hand carved, sanded and stained to produce the final sculpture. For the first time, the artist has integrated metal components into this show, utilizing custom cast pewter and bronze to further enhance the industrial nature of his process.

Steeped in a sense of hope, Could be Gardens proposes an optimistic future where the natural world flourishes within urban confines. These botanical elements serve as a metaphor for all life, resourceful and hopeful, building and sustaining an existence with what is afforded to us at any given time.