Time and Space Travelers

Mike Ditka and Clint get away to Saint Louis

With summer exiting and autumn rolling in, Mike Ditka the dog and I have been trying to immerse ourselves in art. In doing so, we often let our minds go on expansive and meandering journeys of recollection and discovery. That’s part of the power of art after all.

A recent trip to the Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis seemed to encapsulate so much of the journey of the last few months, and honestly our lives so far. There we saw “Somewhere Between Earth and Sky” by mixed-media artist Teresa Baker. In this exhibition, large abstract paintings on shaped artificial turf present an environment reminiscent of looking out a window of a fast-moving vehicle, whether it be a plane or a farm truck. All the vegetation and geology of the area become an elaborate patchwork quilt. Her work, which also incorporates natural materials like willow, animal hide, and corn husks, suggests expanses of space, our remembered landscapes, and how we move within and through them.

Gallery view of Teresa Baker’s “Somewhere Between Earth and Sky” and Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis

Teresa Baker is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes in the Great Plains, and her Mandan/ Hidatsa heritage informs her work. This is apparent in her bronze sculpture and woven baskets. These works too bring to mind familiar spaces and cherished locations. Through her use of negative space and material, these works allude to the fragility of the land and our relation to it.

A series of works on dated lined paper include drawings dense with colors and typed passages from literature and pop culture. These works are at once reminiscent of ledger drawings and those moments in our lives when we pause to record a moment. These works, in relation to the larger paintings and sculptures, shifted the entire experience. As viewers, we were no longer passing from gallery to gallery, we were passing through space and time- literally and metaphorically. Something about these works spurred me to contemplate all the many moments in life when things could have gone differently. They asked me to examine all the actions, positive and regrettable, that I have made and what effect they have had. Conversely, they asked me to recollect all the interactions I have had with family, friends, acquaintance, and strangers. I asked myself what changes others have instigated in me.

“Train yourself to listen to the that small voice that tells us what’s important and what’s not.”— Sue Grafton is sound advice found in Teresa Baker’s “Somewhere Between Earth and Sky.”

I am unsure if Teresa Baker’s “Somewhere Between Earth and Sky” is an intense meditation or a time machine, but I am certain it has changed the way I think about place, self, and the progression of time.

Days later as I type this and Mike Ditka the dog carefully curates his stick collection, I cannot think about the exhibit without imagining myself as a child lying on my belly drawing purple dinosaurs, riding shotgun with my dad and watching cattle gather around farm ponds, and descending in a plane for the first time and noticing the geometric forms of farmland, towns, and cities. I also cannot help but think that all of these moments have had an effect on me, and I question who I would have become if any of these moments would have been different.

We cannot know how the experiences of others have shaped them. I am unsure if we can know to what extent our own experiences have shaped us. We do know that our actions affect those around us. Whether at work or on the sidewalk, our actions matter. We have a choice to make over and over each day. I hope that we choose kindness and assume positive intent. We are only here for a short time, and all this is fragile.

Teresa Baker’s “Somewhere Between Earth and Sky” at  Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis  is generously supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, Jane and Robert Clark, Ferring Family Foundation, Shereen and Michael Fischer, Penny Pennington and Michael Fidler, Mary Ann and Andy Srenco, and Whitaker Foundation.

Teresa' Baker’s “Somewhere Between Earth and Sky” at Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis is a definitive must see