Spiritual Endurance Test​

Mary Sabo and Karin Miller

Jessie Metcalf Gallery, Tam Alumni Center

Spiritual Endurance Test, a collaborative installation by artists Mary Sabo, class of ’18, & Karin Miller, class of ’12, documents objects and scenes encountered while traveling to Tonopah, NV approximately a year ago. Through their exploration of the rural landscapes of Beatty, Goldfield & Tonopah, the two artists strive to understand and draw inspiration from an intangible eeriness felt amidst these towns. Gathering inspiration from these less traveled sites and using familiar materials, Sabo and Miller assemble talismans, shrines and devotional memorabilia that pay homage to sacred ritual practice and explore themes of isolation, pilgrimage and death. Matching process with experimentation, they mold sculptures from concrete, they reference William S. Burrough’s “ play-back technique ” with recorded sounds from The Clown Motel, and draw images from reference photos of the trip. The resulting pieces are presented in Spiritual Endurance Test. Using various techniques and skills unique to each of their practices, the artists lend a new approach to installation.