Imagine a nest not made of twigs and moss, but woven from the tough metal quills shed by heavy cleaning equipment. Over twenty-five years, artist Hilary Pfeifer has gathered these industrial cast-offs from city gutters, and today, they find a new life at the Maude Kerns Art Center. Her retrospective, “Forever in Blue Jeans,” invites you into a world that is both whimsical and deeply reflective.
At the heart of the gallery, on the main stage, sits "godseye." It is an installation of one hundred and fifty nest forms built from found and reclaimed materials. As you lean in, you’ll notice each nest holds a single, polished glass “eye.” These eyes seem to watch you, suggesting a quiet presence that sees our past, our present, and our environmental future. It is a stunning meditation on how birds now weave our human detritus into their very homes.
Pfeifer’s work is a masterclass in the "making" gene. Her practice is grounded in woodworking, ceramics, and soft sculpture, often utilizing industrial cast-offs to find humor and play in serious reflections on habitat.
In “The Beauty of Life,” you see a vibrant wall of mixed-media sculptures—spiky, colorful forms that look like a playful evolution of organic life. A circular collage becomes a miniature universe, crowded with tiny dragonflies and discarded treasures, proving that in Pfeifer’s hands, nothing is truly waste.
The exhibit traces twenty-five years of Pfeifer’s career, from her roots as a young student here in Eugene to her national success. It is a homecoming that asks us to look closely at the role we play in the care of our own shared habitat.
The retrospective is on view through June 5.
