Ali Silverstein

The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7 Chapter 1 : The Fragments is the first chapter of Ali Silverstein’s solo show at MOCA Tucson.


In 1948, in the icy waters off the west coast of Iceland, a British fishing trawler called the Epine GY7 wrecked. The remains of the ship washed up on a remote beach near the Snaefellsness Glacier.  Seventy years later, the rusted remains, unrecognizable as the ship they once comprised, create an enigmatic landscape full of latent potential and a dormant, almost kinetic energy. 


Silverstein is documenting and archiving these three-dimensional fragments into graphic two-dimensional rubbings—a process imbued with ritual and remembrance. The rubbings, photographs, and video are just the start of the journey. Using the pieces from this constructed archive, the artist has begun an attempted reconstitution and memorial.  


At its core this project, as much of Silverstein’s work, is about mining wreckage to create new forms.  In her studio, she navigates stacks and piles of abstract shapes cut from larger paintings, arranging and rearranging these fragments into large-scale layered configurations.  Silverstein’s obsessive desire to understand develops into a desire to build structure and meaning from the fragments and evidence of wreckage; she repurposes the detritus from her process to create new forms again and again. The show runs until December 29.


"Installation View, The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7, MoCA Tucson", 2019
Installation View, The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7, MoCA Tucson

Left: two newspaper articles about the Epine GY7 shipwreck in 1948;
Right: documentation imagery of the creation of the rubbings of the shipwreck

2019Courtesy of MOCA Tucson. Photos by Paul Puiia

"Detail, Reconstruction: Fringed and Layered Canvas", 2019
Detail, Reconstruction: Fringed and Layered Canvas

Acrylic paint and cut canvas
12 60 inches x 60 inches panels

2019Courtesy of MOCA Tucson. Photos by Paul Puiia

"Installation View, The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7, MoCA Tucson", 2019
Installation View, The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7, MoCA Tucson

2019Courtesy of MOCA Tucson. Photos by Paul Puiia

"Installation View, The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7, MoCA Tucson, Charred Negative Screen", 2019
Installation View, The Fantastical Reconstruction of the Epine GY7, MoCA Tucson, Charred Negative Screen

Charred Oak
4 feet x 8 feet

2019Courtesy of MOCA Tucson. Photos by Paul Puiia