Whitney Sage X Nicholas Hill Exhibitions

Whitney Sage’s acrylic, ink and gouache drawings connect to issues of absence, loss and memory as related to disappearing homeland. The work is inspired by the artist’s own personal roots and focus on the sprawling midwestern neighborhoods of Detroit and Highland Park, Michigan. Through an incomplete picture provided by voided negative shapes, empty lots and incomplete artifacts on display, viewers are invited to consider the collective loss of identity, memory and belonging experienced in shrinking midwestern communities. Nicholas Hill’s series, Pandemic Portrait Drawings, aim to bring a sense of humanity back to our collective memories of the pandemic five years on. Hill’s drawings were made in real time throughout the course of the covid crisis, on related pages from the New York Times. Using an Ink and Brush technique, Hill combed news photos for passersby and unintended subjects, creating portraits from these “found” faces. The portraits remind the viewer that each loss was and is a personal tragedy.