NATURAL BEAUTIES
An Exhibition by S.E “Cay” Cayleff

Exhibition Dates: May 27 – June 7
Location: Provincetown Commons
46 Bradford Street
Provincetown, MA 02657

Opening Reception
Friday, May 29
5 PM – 7 PM

Artist Website

Gallery Hours
Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

ARTIST STATEMENT:

I moved to Provincetown in 1973. This sacred area has been my home base ever since. After graduate school at Sarah Lawrence and Brown University, I taught at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, 1983-87 and in the first Women’s Studies Department in the nation at San Diego State University, 1987-2020.

Since childhood I’ve roamed woods, beaches, mountains, deserts and urban streets scavenging nature’s gifts: antlers, feathers, wood, bones, glass shards, broken castoffs from stained glass studios, rusted metal, ocean wash-ups and creatures whose lives left behind gorgeous remnants. In my years in San Diego, my family and I drove cross-country many times, each trip bringing new treasures from Indian country, the Badlands, New Mexico, the original Route 66, and more. The Anza Borrego desert, east of San Diego was a magical place for finds. Years in Provincetown allowed trips to the woods of northern New England. Dear friends in Alaska, Minnesota and Maine provided me shed antlers galore.

These natural beauties are supplemented by meticulously curated materials I’ve collected in metal junk yards, construction sites, and roadside flea markets, swap meets and shops specializing in ubiquitous bins of items from eras long ago.

My assemblages use all these materials to create mood and honor memories. Animals’ beauty is central to my designs, as are nature’s connections to the human world. My work is a tribute to the untamed magic that surrounds us, and how natural and human “remains” can transport us and create stories.

In a time of political turmoil, distrust and deception, “Untamed” seeks to offer balance by celebrating beauty and joy.