a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines)
Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines) pages of pine needles
36 pine needles (detail)
ongoing collection
pages of pine needles
pine needles, graphite, matte medium

I collect the pine needles that fall to the ground outside my studio, arrange them in grids of 36 that are adhered to paper and draw lines between each to form a pattern. I currently have nearly 200 pine needle drawing tiles. They can be installed in various configurations.

The central question in this undertaking is:
x number of pine needles = a pine tree, therefore x=?
While a this is a perfectly reasonable curiosity, it will result in a different answer every time because each pine tree is different and constantly changing.

Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines) 25 x 19 in
36 pine needles
pine needles, graphite, matte medium
25 x 19 in
Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines) Hunt Gallery, Mary Baldwin College
342 pine needles
(installation view)
Hunt Gallery, Mary Baldwin College
February 2011
Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines) Lexington Open Studios (invited guest of Dorothy "DotDot" Blackwell)
648 pine needles
(installation view)
Lexington Open Studios (invited guest of Dorothy "DotDot" Blackwell)
March 2012
Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines)
648 pine needles (detail)
installation view
Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines) OnView: 305 VanBrunt storefront gallery
1,164 pine needles
site-specific installation
OnView: 305 VanBrunt storefront gallery
Red Hook Brooklyn, June 2011

For this site-specific installation of the pine needle collection, I papered the back wall of the window-front gallery with pine needle pages. I then adhered pine needles in a grid directly on the window glass so the viewer would be looking through a pattern of pine needles to the collections on the wall.
Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines) OnView: 305 VanBrunt storefront gallery
1,164 pine needles
detail of installation
OnView: 305 VanBrunt storefront gallery
Clover Archer  a futile attempt to avoid geometry (in the pines) OnView: 305 VanBrunt storefront gallery
1,164 pine needles
detail of installation
OnView: 305 VanBrunt storefront gallery