Pearce 'a stone hugger' over neolithic artwork

In a time of wireless electronic communications and fast-paced living, Michael Pearce gets his inspiration from ancient history.

As a child growing up in England, Pearce, now an assistant professor of art at California Lutheran University, was exposed to Stone Age history.

"When we were kids, we played soccer on Stonehenge," Pearce said. "We had a picnic on the Slaughter Stone; we used to fly kites at Barbury Castle. My dad took us to all those places I blame my father."

Pearce, who is also curator of the Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture at CLU, said he feels a strong connection to prehistory, and he hopes viewers make a connection to their ancestry through his art, much of which has its roots in prehistory.

His large installation of 33 sections of telephone poles ranging from 1 foot to about 5 feet tall is arranged in a cross formation on the lawn next to the counseling center at CLU. The poles are aligned to the summer and winter solstices.

"When the sun is coming down, the shadows are perfectly in line like a microcosmic sculpture in the center of the campus," Pearce said.

"I don't think of this as art at all," he said. "It's just necessary. In prehistoric Britain they were making stuff from material that grew naturally. Things they made were necessary for them to understand their universe."

"Solar Cross" is part of a traveling exhibit titled, "Mr. Pearce's Cabinet of Contemporary Neolithic Wonders." It was at the Kwan Fong Gallery last year, and it is scheduled to be shown at Studio Channel Islands Art Center next summer in a version he is tentatively calling, "A Secret Cabinet," because it will be about lots of hidden secrets and mysteries, he said.

Included in the unusual collection is a piece made of two plaster slabs, one with an impression of a coiled snake, another with the relief form of the snake, which is suspended over the other piece.

The spiral is a Neolithic symbol representing the solar cycle, an old symbol of light often used with cremated remains, he said. "You are bringing light to places where there is none," he said. The viewer has to get up close to appreciate the piece.

Enthused about his work

"People actively participate in the artwork. That is what I mean by the work is necessary," he said. "You can use the things I make to fulfill wishes, or make yourself want to connect with prehistory."

Pearce is clearly enthusiastic about his work.

"Because I have gotten so absorbed in megalithic culture, it just kind of comes out," he said.

While doing a foundation course at Swindon Art School in England in the mid-1980s, Pearce said, he remembered thinking of the stone circles being more relevant to him than work in galleries.

"The scales of the structures they built and the interaction between them was so powerful I found myself so drawn to them, I still do," he said. "I guess I am a stone hugger."

Pearce doesn't think of his artwork in terms of sales.

"The motivation is not about money," he said. "I want people to get involved with the art."

Diverse appeal

His art appeals to a diverse group. Collectors include oil heir Andrew Getty, the San Fernando Valley Historical Society and rap star Snoop Dogg.

Pearce was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland last year.

He recently completed work for his doctorate in fine arts from Plymouth University in England. His dissertation was titled, "Vesica: Using Prehistoric British Art and Architecture as a Model for Making Contemporary Art."

He earned his master's in scenic design from the University of Southern California and before that, studied theatrical design and earned a bachelor's degree in experimental theater from Dartington College of Arts.

"Dartington was one of the most wildly creative places, full of contrasts and variety," he said. "The boundaries are made to be broken. I don't think we should be constrained by materials and label ourselves as painters or sculptors," he said. "I want to avoid being in a box. I think it's important just to have the incentive to create. That is what I hope my students get."

Pearce has been teaching at CLU for two years. He decided to pursue a career in education after surviving a serious automobile accident 10 years ago.

"I was so lucky I walked away," he said. "I figured I have to make life worth living, do something that is valuable for other people. I think teaching is the best thing on earth."

Pearce also does oil painting and will exhibit several large, dramatic paintings of faces at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts, June 8 through July 2.

The exhibit is presented by the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley, and the reception is set for 4-6 p.m. June 16 at 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks.

To recommend an artist to be profiled in this section, contact Nicole D'Amore at ArtProfiles@Roadrunner.com or 405-0364.