Cole Sternberg Reimagines the California Dream

Here, we ask an artist to frame the essential details behind one of their latest works.

Bio: Cole Sternberg, 44, California.

Title of work: owls stirred the silence here and there.

Where to see it: Praz Delavallade (6150 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA).

Three words to describe this work: An ethereal warning.

What was on your mind at the time: I was hoping to create a focal point for the final room of my exhibition “Freestate,” where a visual dreaminess concludes a literary and concept-heavy journey. Its journey involved creating the dynamics of an entire nation-state—a new constitution, budget, clothing, billboards, and a new telling of history. This breadth of information, known as “The Free Republic of California,” flowed across the museum. Ultimately, the concept is meant to conclude with a call to dream of bigger things wrapped in a warning of the necessity of change. This aim guided the creation of owls stirred the silence here and there, a piece that feels romantic and immersive in its visuals, scale, and installation, yet is decaying while the tide rises towards the horizon.

An interesting feature that’s not immediately noticeable: The work is comprised of 288 individual images, each transferred onto wood panels by hand. In that process, I often had to stop because my fingers would wear away, dripping blood. It took months to finish and resulted in my fingerprints disappearing.

How the work reflects your practice as a whole: My practice often uses the sublime and elegant nature of the environment to question humankind’s presence within it, hinting towards either immediate widespread change or inevitable erasure. owls stirred the silence here and there does just that.

One song that captures the work’s essence: “The Departure” by Max Richter.