There is always a road less traveled, a view, a lonely path to follow, or just a sense of mysterious isolation in the works of Clayton Schiff. There is the obvious Kafka-esque conundrums in each work without any real indication of modernity and modern life. Just something sad. Something longing. Something bewildering. His newest show, Routing, opening at Harkawik in Los Angeles on March 1st, is a tale of the paths we take, the mistakes we make along the way, the desire to escape to or to escape away from a proverbial "it all." I look at Clayton's work and I can't help but feel my age, or see my aging reflected back to me. You are left with the sense of wondering how you ended up somewhere and if life ever gives you a moment of pause to consider the alternatives.
Routing can suggest defeat or just a way to get from point A to point B. I get the sense that Clayton likes this ambiguity. We talk a lot about borders these days, the paths we take to get to a border, and maybe this work is a way of understanding why we go, how we go, where we go. —Evan Pricco
