Sonoran Hourglass: Dawn’s Early Light

A day is composed of 24 hours; split in half, the cycle is equal parts day and night, twelve-hour intervals—heralded by the transitional phases of dawn and dusk. The exhibition series SONORAN HOURGLASS surveys how time moves over the Sonoran Desert in the most obvious and subtle of ways—through the air: the light, the temperature, the mood, the pressure—through the landscape: the creatures, the water, the plants, the earth—through the cosmos. Using abstract notions and temporal quotients of past, present, and future, the classic form and function of an hourglass hearkens time’s effect in slow dissolution or methodical accretion, lending a timeless tone and romance to this project.

Concentrating on the timeframe of dawn and all its workings, Dawn’s Early Light features the work of 39 Arizona artists. The exhibition is the first installment in the series, SONORAN HOURGLASS. It will be followed in sequence by the exhibitions: ablaze the brilliant sun (day), behold the gloaming crepuscular (dusk), and into the inky night (night).