There is a terrible moment in James Balog's Chasing Ice when a 4.5-cubic-mile chunk breaks off the Jakobshavn Glacier. It is the largest calving ever filmed, an event that has been described as like watching Manhattan break apart before your eyes. When sculptor Kappy Wells snaked through those freezing waters in a small boat, she was stunned by the sculptural beauty of Greenland's ancient, ice-blue glaciers. (She is, after all, daughter of pioneering earth-shelter architect Malcolm Wells.) Returning home, though, she was haunted by loss. Although accustomed to sculpting with enduring materials such as bronze, Wells took a matte knife to a pile of sheetrock. Comprised largely of gypsum mined from ancient seabeds, sheetrock proved to be the perfect medium. These drywall glacial chunks float amid charcoal icebergs in a crumbling 3D series she has aptly named "Time | lesss." In partnership with the non-profit Tides, the opening of this exhibit will feature expert speakers on climate change, as well as photographs taken by Wells' son Samuel Mott during their trip.
"Time | lesss" opens at 11 a.m. through Sept. 26 at San Francisco Gallery, 441 Jackson St., S.F. Free; 415-249-1111 or sfcagallery.com.
415-249-1111
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