Over several decades, Galveston, Texas-based artist Eric Schnell has made intuitive drawings that often develop into extensive installations. One small drawing will suggest the next, and then another, methodically creating sequential images that eventually make up a larger work. For the artist, this linear progression of images creates a narrative as well as a map. Schnell sees the creations as exploratory and never finished, with narratives that undercut themselves and maps that are similar to the complexity of human consciousness. He recognizes an installation of works may become “a visual map of human consciousness or a visual poem that embraces the complexity of human experience—both beautiful and sad.”

For this iteration, Schnell employ new drawings and floor sculptures in companion installations titled The Island of The Umbellifers (Part II) installations. Schnell engages the “cells” of the OJAC’s historic jail building as well as one of the OJAC’s more contemporary galleries for this exhibition—creating islands for discovery within the museum. Viewers will be able to participate in a “learning” search for a fictional quasi-utopian place comprised of drawings and constructions that suggest fantastical islands, boats, and gardens. 

The 2024 Cell Series of exhibitions is generously supported by National Endowment for the Arts, Paula & Parker Jameson, and the McGinnis Family Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas, with additional funding from Jay & Barbra Clack, Kathy Webster in memory of Charles H. Webster, and Dr. Larry Wolz.