MOBILE, Ala. – On June 18, 2022, Mobile Museum of Art will open A Nest of One’s Own, a site-specific installation conceived, fabricated, and installed by Alabama-native Dixon Stetler.
Stetler is a Southerner deep whose work combines creativity, recycling, and playfulness to address community and social issues of our times. Using reclaimed and discarded materials, the artist draws equal attention to people and place we overlook or discard. Employing everything from old flip-flops to Christmas lights, rope, beads, water hoses, and electrical wires, Stetler weaves refuse and trash into a creative fabric of dreams and humanity.
“A Nest of One’s Own offers a safe haven when the world feels out of control,“ Stetler says. “The fundamental drive to gather and assemble is a function of both nest building in nature and my artistic process. Inspired by what society deems as no longer useful, I collect recognizable materials from construction and industrial sites. Without altering the found materials, I present a new beginning for them. Dirty and scarred objects have a built-in history. They represent resilience, strength, and an unapologetic identity that is worthy of appreciation. The unsavory can be made more palatable — even comforting — when we have a shared experience with it. A Nest of One’s Own is a celebration of self soothing, a place for self reflection, and peace.”
This site-specific installation is made possible through the generous support of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Dr. G. Douglas Hungerford, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the City of Mobile. Support for this, and all museum exhibitions and programs, is provided by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the City of Mobile. A Nest of One’s Own is on view at Mobile Museum of Art through April 2023. More information at www.MobileMuseumofArt.com.
