This work by Jessica Stockholder belongs to the artist’s series of assists, which proposes situations in which one sculptural element, a prop, is assisted by another, an assist. In this case, a bundle of tree branches is in a complementary relationship to a shelving unit and various other materials, such as a plastic mirror, embroidery thread, metal struts, and a “load hugger” yellow webbing. Stockholder considered these works “paintings in space,” thinking not about their volume in three-dimensions, but rather about the relationships between their forms, shapes, colors, lines, and planes.

In addition to its aesthetic considerations, Stockholder’s practice is rooted in an examination of the consumption and production habits of human society. She commonly utilizes found objects in her work, and has a special propensity for spotlighting electrical waste and plastic, two of the most common, and hardest to dispose of or reuse, types of post-consumer garbage. Stockholder’s work bridges abstract aesthetic theories with critical social and political issues, sparking conversations about the meaning and lasting importance of politics within abstract art.