exploring joshua tree

exploring joshua tree

2013

Santa Monica, CA

“By eight a.m. it starts to get toasty. We’re driving through Joshua Tree, stopping to eat peaches, stopping to climb the mammoth boulders that scatter the landscape. The park, named after a strange breed of yucca tree, is a continual source of inspiration for dosa. Each tree has a unique personality: jovial, aggressive, indecisive, heartbroken, or electric. Karen and Christina rest on a rock overlooking a plain full of Joshua trees, discussing ideas for the upcoming collections. We explore, discuss, picnic. As the sun goes down we drive through the park, the trees silhouetted ink black against the sky.” – dosa photographer Elena Chien, on a day in the desert with Christina and textile designer Karen Spurgin
 
dosa at SMMoA: Exploring Joshua Tree celebrated the sensory world of Joshua Tree National Park, an inspiring geological wonderland frequented by Christina for nearly twenty years. Presented at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, the installation distilled the hues and textures of the desert and its distinctive flora. Sheer fabric panels printed with enlarged maps of the park and appliquéd with silhouettes of Joshua trees became a winding translucent mural, billowing with each passing breeze. Overhead, a chorus of tumbleweeds threw shadows across the room. In the adjoining space, a temporary dosa shop offered a selection of accessories and clothing in playful Joshua Tree inspired prints. Five percent of sales proceeds were donated to Joshua Tree National Park.
 
Exploring Joshua Tree was a continuation of an ongoing creative relationship between the Santa Monica Museum of Art, its retail shop GRACIE, and dosa. The first event, dosa at SMMoA, was held the summer of 2012, and the next will be summer of 2014.
pillows printed with the desert landscape
wall of danmalas by Kathy Klein
Valerie Arber bracelets