Twin Win
Solo Exhibition in the Outback Projects Outpost, in Reno Nevada. August 26th - September 30th, 2023
My mom (Maura Antonia Orr, identical twin seen on the right in the photo with Olga on the left and Bertilda, my grandmother in the middle) always speaks of luck like it is something you can see, on your hands or your body. Maybe an aura, or a particle barely discernible to the human eye. I imagine it as pollen, like when you touch a flower and leave thumbprints of yellow on your clothes. She always tells the same story, as working in downtown Reno for several decades gives you a specific perspective about winning and losing. My mom says, when you are winning, you don’t leave the table. That she’s seen people with the chips stacked up, thousands in hand, get up to go to the bathroom and upon returning, they lose everything. The luck has left the room, left your hands, left your body.
The work in TWIN WIN is a mixture of ceramic & wood sculptures made in 2023. The Outpost was turned into a chapel of luck, lined with objects I created to manifest a specific outcome. These pieces are also meditations on the larger world of iconic symbols in and around Reno. I added my own context and personal history to a lineage of imagery that has vastly evolved over time, from medieval pageantry to the LED slot machines in gas stations on the outskirts of town.
The viewer had the option to play a round of poker, professionally dealt by my mom, Maura. The poker table was constructed using a 7ft piece of plywood upholstered with green velvet. The poker tournament creates an opportunity to win or lose in an articulated setting, to try your hand in a temporary casino, in the safety of friends and family.
Fabricated sheet steel, plasma cut with the show title.
Maura Orr (on-site poker dealer) and artist Summer Orr (pit boss).
Viewers, friends, poker players.
“Outback Projects is an artist-run curatorial project founded by Katie Holden, Kristin Hough, and Julian Tan. Outback was created in 2018 in an effort to provide exhibition opportunities to emerging artists, and offer space for experimentation and community building. Since its inception, Outback has made an effort to connect local and out of state artists to create dynamic pairings and spark dialog between artists who might otherwise not meet. Originally hosting shows in a finished one car garage and backyard in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Outback has now expanded its practice to include site specific installations throughout California and Nevada.”