Works
Various Artists
From the Upper Valley in the Foothills
January 10 – 31 2026
Vince Skelly
Ryan Belli
Co-curated and co-organized with and by Vince Skelly.
In coordination and with material support from Angel City Lumber.
Opening
Saturday, January 10
from 4–7PM
On View
January 10 – 31 2026
Wednesday – Saturday
Noon – 5PM
Marta
3021 Rowena Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
With works by (A–Z) — Dan John Anderson, Ryan Belli, Noah Cohen, Nik Gelormino, Asher Gillman, Brian Guido (Barni Goudi), Max Hertz, Sam Klemick, Tristan Louis Marsh, Doug McCollough, Mark Morones, Lindsey Muscato & Joshua Friedman (Base 10), Christopher Norman, Dave O’Brien, Shin Okuda, Vincent Pocsik, Ellie Richards, Josué da Silva, Vince Skelly, Rachel Shillander, Jonathan Snyder & Alejandro DePass (Snyder DePass), and Marley White.
One Year After the Fires
On January 07 2024, the Eaton Fire broke out in the San Gabriel Mountains. After burning for twenty-five days until its containment on January 31, it had taken nineteen lives and destroyed over nine-thousand structures; to date, it remains the second most destructive wildfire in California’s history. Simultaneously, across the County to the west, the Palisades Fire raged, ultimately taking twelve lives and destroying nearly seven-thousand structures. After thirty-one days of devastation, it emerged as the most destructive wildfire in the history of the City of Los Angeles.
In an effort to continue an active engagement with these monumental events and their ongoing effects on both land and community, rather than relegate them to the static memory of history, Marta, with co-organizer Vince Skelly and material partner Angel City Lumber, is honored to present From the Upper Valley in the Foothills, a group exhibition featuring participants from in and around greater Los Angeles that honors sacrifice, celebrates resilience, and looks to the capacity of artists and designers to examine the regenerative potential of a single, fundamental material: Wood.
Trees, perhaps more than any other element of a landscape, embody the spirit of lived existence. Over a lifetime, they offer their forms to place while bearing witness to, and influencing, the contours of everyday life—a balance of vision and impact to which each of the twenty-two contributing artists pay homage. Through the collection, collation, and cataloging endeavors of Angel City Lumber—a unique lumber mill that specializes in sourcing downed trees from around L.A. County for use in community projects—each individual or duo chose a section of wood that was cleared from Altadena, the foothill region most profoundly impacted by the Eaton Fire. The species, a cross-section of native and naturalized that represent the area’s biome—Aleppo Pine, Cedar, Coastal Live Oak, Shammel Ash—have transformed through their invitation toward function, resulting in points of rest, contemplation, and containment that suggest the repopulation of spaces that have been lost and must now be reimagined anew. Whether bowl, stool, chair, or bench, each work has been positioned organically within the Silverlake gallery, sited so that visitors must weave between forms as they would those of a living forest; a realm that supports our limbs and memories, our possessions of mind and body. On the year anniversary of the fires, the presentation emerges as a collective experience of grief and hope—a monument to the past and a journey toward the ever-evolving future.
Works
Dan John Anderson
Circle the Square Chair, 2025
Deodar Cedar, Charred, Oil, Wax
28.25 H × 17.75 W × 17.75 D in.
71.8 H × 45.1 W × 45.1 D cm
Ryan Belli
One Last Thing Before You Go, 2025
Ponderosa Pine, Aluminum, Paint
18.0 H × 37.0 W × 17.5 D in.
45.7 H × 94.0 W × 44.5 D cm
Noah Cohen
Small Chest (Forever Changes), 2025
Coast Live Oak, Port Orford Cedar, Egg Tempera
17.0 H × 24.0 W × 16.25 D in.
43.2 H × 61.0 W × 41.3 D cm
Nik Gelormino
Hitchhiker (No. 03), 2025
Shamel Ash, Brass, Stainless Steel, Glass
12.0 H × 10.0 W × 10.0 D in.
30.5 H × 25.4 W × 25.4 D cm
Asher Gillman
Left Over Chair, 2025
Cast Aluminum, Aleppo Pine
28.0 H × 18.0 W × 18.0 D in.
71.1 H × 45.7 W × 45.7 D cm
Brian Guido
of Barni Goudi
McNally Stool #1, 2025
Deodar Cedar, Big Cone Douglas Fir (Bowtie Inlays)
18.0 H × 13.75 W × 13.75 D in.
45.7 H × 34.9 W × 34.9 D cm
Brian Guido
of Barni Goudi
McNally Stool #2, 2025
Deodar Cedar
18.0 H × 13.75 W × 13.75 D in.
45.7 H × 34.9 W × 34.9 D cm
Max Hertz
Petal Stool, 2025
Aleppo Pine
20.75 H × 17.5 W × 14.0 D in.
52.7 H × 44.5 W × 35.6 D cm
Sam Klemick
Dressed Stool, 2025
Aleppo Pine
18.0 H × 10.0 W × 10.0 D in.
45.7 H × 25.4 W × 25.4 D cm
Tristan Louis Marsh
Floral Stool, 2025
Aleppo Pine, Mohair, Upholstery Foam, Osmo
18.0 H × 18.0 W × 18.0 D in.
45.7 H × 45.7 W × 45.7 D cm
Doug McCollough
Decorative Bowl 1, 2025
Shamel Ash, Stains, Shellac, Beeswax
5.75 H × 15.0 W × 15.0 D in.
14.6 H × 38.1 W × 38.1 D cm
Doug McCollough
Decorative Bowl 2, 2025
Shamel Ash, Stains, Shellac, Beeswax
2.75 H × 13.5 W × 13.5 D in.
7.0 H × 34.3 W × 34.3 D cm
Mark Morones
Everybody Gets a Guitar, 2025
Deodor Cedar, Iron Nitrate, Oil, Wax
28.25 H × 17.1 W × 4.75 D in.
71.8 H × 43.5 W × 12.0 D cm
Lindsey Muscato & Joshua Friedman
of Base 10
Watari Bench, 2025
Coastal Live Oak
36.0 H × 60.0 W × 23.75 D in.
91.4 H × 152.4 W × 60.3 D cm
Christopher Norman
Untitled (Intersection 4), 2025
Deodar Cedar, Linseed Oil
19.0 H × 17.0 W × 17.0 D in.
48.3 H × 43.2 W × 43.2 D cm
Dave O’Brien
Felis Temple, 2025
Deodar Cedar
23.5 H × 17.5 W × 17.5 D in.
60.0 H × 44.5 W × 44.5 D cm
Shin Okuda & Kristin Dickson-Okuda
of Waka Waka & Iko Iko
Login, 2025
Ash, Cotton / Polyester Floral Brocade, Foam
16.75 H × 78.25 W × 32.0 D in.
42.5 H × 198.8 W × 81.3 D cm
Vincent Pocsik
Five Ears in Cedar, 2025
Cedar, Cherry
18.5 H × 13.0 W × 13.0 D in.
47.0 H × 33.0 W × 33.0 D cm
Ellie Richards
Twelve and Counting, 2025
Shamel Ash
83.5 H × 26.25 W × 15.5 D in. (Stacked)
212.1 H × 66.7 W × 39.4 D cm
18.75 H × 26.25W × 15.5 D in. (Nested)
47.6 × 66.7 W × 39.4 D cm
Rachel Shillander
Power Pole, 2025
Coastal Live Oak, Steel Nails
18.0 H × 12.0 W × 12.0 D in.
45.7 H × 30.5 W × 30.5 D cm
Josué da Silva
Anjo Stool, 2025
Aleppo Pine, Birds-Eye Maple, Lacquer Paint
24.0 H × 28.0 W × 15.0 D in.
61.0 H × 71.1 W × 38.1 D cm
Vince Skelly
Assembled Foothills Side Table, 2025
Cedar
22.0 H × 14.0 W × 15.5 D in.
55.8 H × 35.5 W × 39.3 D cm
Vince Skelly
Foothills Side Table, 2025
Cedar
20.5 H × 14.0 W × 18.0 D in.
52.0 H × 35.5 W × 45.7 D cm
Jonathan Synder & Alejandro DePass
of Snyder DePass
Santa Rosa Chair, 2025
Cedar
26.0 H × 28.0 W × 27.0 D in.
66.0 H × 71.1 W × 68.6 D cm
Marley White
Settle Chair, 2025
Aleppo Pine, Natural Casings, Steel Hardware
32.0 H × 24.0 W × 34.0 D in.
81.3 H × 61.0 W × 86.4 D cm
Marta is a Los Angeles-based, globally-engaged art gallery. Founded in 2019, the gallery makes space for artists to experiment with the utility of design, and for designers to explore the abandonment of function. Marta’s curatorial, publication, and podcast programs take interest in the process of a work’s creation as well the narrative of its creator(s). Marta embraces the intersection of and the transition between disciplines, advocates for diversity in design, and promotes broad access to the arts.