Emmett Moore: Hyper Natural
October 19th - November 18th, 2023-
Emmett Moore: Hyper Natural, Installation View. Photography by Clare Gatto.
Nina Johnson is pleased to present Hyper Natural, a solo exhibition featuring five new works by artist and designer Emmett Moore. Opening October 19th in the Exhibition Library, Hyper Natural considers the nexus between human interactions with built and natural environments, in addition to the complexities and contradictions found within those relationships. Known for his interdisciplinary approach to design and art, Moore explores the connection between architecture, design, and ecology, utilizing processes taken primarily from architecture and industrial design
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Emmett Moore, Seafoam Brisoleil, 2023, Found eps, steel, barnacles, enamel, urethane, 74 x 41 x 12 in.
For the last ten years, he has examined notions of functionality, subverting ergonomic considerations for more conceptual applications through his work. Working with found, discarded, and recycled materials, Moore expands on this foundation by asking the question: how does our built environment correlate with the natural environment?
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Emmett Moore, Re-Tree,2023 Cuban mahogany, dade-county pine, greenheart, tree-snail shells, python skin, 73 x 42 x 16 in.
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Emmett Moore: Hyper Natural, Installation View. Photography by Clare Gatto.
For the last ten years, he has examined notions of functionality, subverting ergonomic considerations for more conceptual applications through his work. Working with found, discarded, and recycled materials, Moore expands on this foundation by asking the question: how does our built environment correlate with the natural environment?
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Detail of Eco-Punk Chair, 2023, Second-hand shirts, metal studs, nokia phone, epoxy, 32 x 3 x 26 in.
For Hyper Natural, Moore showcases five new furniture works and architectural sculptures which range in materials and processes but share cohesive underlying concepts. The works in the exhibition take cues from eco-futurism, an online movement advocating that technological advancement and the preservation of the ecosystem can harmoniously coexist as guiding principles. Employing original methods and techniques, Moore juxtaposes natural materials such as wood and stone and manipulates them to appear artificial—and vice versa.
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Emmett Moore: Hyper Natural, Installation View. Photography by Clare Gatto.
Exhibition highlights include Hyper-Natural Chaise, a chaise lounge made of secondhand clothing and driftwood, which the artist created by using a digitally manipulated 3D scan of ‘la chaise’ by Charles and Ray Eames; Hive Supertall, a porous limestone and perforated aluminum sculpture based on a new architectural typology of a condo tower exceeding 1,000 feet in height (seven of which are breaking ground in Miami); and Re-Tree, a freestanding wooden sculpture made from native and imported reclaimed wood with coiled python skin representing an invasive element.
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Detail of Hyper Natural Chaise, 2023, Second-hand clothing, cedar driftwood, defunct electronics, epoxy, 33 x 92 x 40 in.
“As we further understand the relationship between ourselves, the objects we live with and nature, we realize that within these dynamics there is still so much room for growth and evolution, especially via unexpected channels ” said Emmett Moore.
Hyper Natural is on view through November 18th, 2023.
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Emmett Moore, Tempest, 2023, Stainless steel, vintage car emblems, 66 x 28 x 19 in.
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Emmett Moore, Hive Supertall, 2023, Aluminum, oolite rock, 96 x 10 x 10 in.
Emmett Moore is a Miami-based artist and designer whose interdisciplinary practice moves fluidly between art, design, and architecture. His work examines the shifting relationship between the built and natural environments, using functionality as both a structural premise and a conceptual provocation. Working with the forms of everyday objects, Moore explores the universality and endurance of the utilitarian, reframing the familiar through shifts in material, color, and context. His material language often draws from secondhand goods, repurposed construction components, and found refuse, strategically employed to collapse traditional hierarchies between the refined and the commonplace. Within this framework, functional objects become vessels for broader cultural, and ecological narratives, ultimately transcending their intended purpose to occupy an elevated role. His work has been shown institutionally at the RISD Museum, the Frost Art Museum, the Miami Art Museum, the Bass Museum of Art, and is in the permanent collection of the Perez Art Museum Miami. He was the first Miami-based designer to exhibit a solo exhibition at Design Miami. Moore’s work has been covered by Art in America, The Guardian, The Miami Herald, Cultured Magazine, Architectural Digest, Artsy and The Art Newspaper among others. Moore was named the Miami New Times’ Best Visual Artist in 2015 and 2021.