Fried eggs and a silly dog

Emily Marchand channels her love for her late dog Ozzy in an upcoming exhibition at OCHI Los Angeles titled "The Slumber of a Prince," marking a shift toward unapologetic joy in her work.

Author

Steven Vargas
January 09, 2025

I hope everyone is safe from the fires. It's not the best way to start the new year, but let's try to turn that around soon.

DISCLAIMER

Please check Watch Duty and your local news (like KTLA and LA Times) to stay up-to-date on the progression of the Southern California fires. I started working on this before the fires began and when it publishes the situation will be completely different. Depending on the conditions, some of these events may be postponed or canceled in the coming days. Please be advised. In the meantime, I wanted to give you something to read that offers a little less doom and gloom. 

Introducing: Emily Marchand

Emily Marchand, "Ozzy (play dead)," 2023. Stoneware, glaze, underglaze. 20 x 23 x 12 in. (Photo by Deen Babakhyi / Courtesy of the artist and OCHI)

When artist Emily Marchand and her husband saw their dog Ozzy sleeping, they would let out a soft sigh in adoration. 

“Ah, the slumber of a prince,” they’d say. 

The common phrase spoken around her sleepy dog is now the title of Marchand’s exhibition at OCHI Los Angeles, memorializing her four-legged prince. “The Slumber of a Prince” opens on Jan. 11 and features life-size sculptures of Ozzy laying on his back with his tongue hanging out, sitting up, and excitedly reclining and curling his tail. 

Ozzy became the centerpiece of Marchand’s art in recent years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Marchand had a solo show and a prominent public art installation with the City of Los Angeles called “A Thousand Lunches.” She felt the momentum of her career pick up. Then, it ended with the stay-at-home orders. She got a new studio and used the space to expand. 

“I found myself making work not for anything specific,” she said. “Ultimately, I started making sculptures of my dog.” 

In August 2024, she was set to share some of these new creations for a show in Sun Valley, Idaho, but a wildfire halted those plans. Coincidentally, the same week the show was supposed to open, Ozzy died. 

“We had someone come to the house to put him down,” she said. “I never thought I had the courage to be able to love something so much that I could do that, that I could let him go.” 

Her pandemic works held a new weight. Preparing for her show at OCHI, the gallery asked her what a show surrounding her Ozzy sculptures would look like. 

“I decided that making a nighttime dreamscape show would make the most sense and be a sendoff for him,” Marchand said. 

In addition to the Ozzy sculptures, hand-sculpted tile wall works — which include several small tiles and one large-scale one — portray the serene landscape of her garden at night. The imagery on the tiles captures willows, birds and daisies arching in the blue night sky. Marchand considers it a very blue show with blue feelings. Although the exhibition is a memorial to Ozzy, it is filled with plenty of joy. 

The objects on Ozzy reflect all that she and Ozzy loved, from cast fruits and vegetables in her garden to fried eggs. Why fried eggs? 

“They’re just so silly and I like to use them for comedic relief,” she said. “Ozzy was also a very silly creature.” 

Emily Marchand, "Ozzy (bee sting)," 2023. Stoneware, glaze, underglaze. 21 x 10 x 11 in. (Photo by Deen Babakhyi / Courtesy of the artist and OCHI)

 Altogether, the exhibition is something new for her practice. 

“I felt like I started to have this very unapologetic practice of making things that I love,” she said. 

Marchand admits that she is no stranger to the weight of mortality. From a very young age, she’s been surrounded by death. The death of Ozzy, who had a pacemaker at nine years old, was anticipated. 

“I think that I’m exhausted of worrying about death and grief that I’m learning that as an artist, through making work, there is a lot of tenderness and excitement to be able to channel work through those feelings,” she said. 

Before getting her studio during the pandemic, her work primarily centered on topics like food scarcity, food accessibility and climate change. There was a serious tone to it. With “The Slumber of a Prince,” Marchand is learning that all these curious concerns can still exist even when we are being silly and fun. Joy and comfort are just as important as the solemn and somber. 

“I feel really excited and nervous and unapologetic,” she said. “It’s the most clear example of how much I love the things I love.” 

LOCATION: 3301 W Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
DATES: January 11 - February 15
TIME: 11 am - 5 pm Wed. thru Sat.
PRICE: Free
LINK: https://www.ochigallery.com/exhibition/emily-marchand-slumber-of-a-prince/ 

This Week’s Top Spots

Alejandro Perez and Gretchen Ackerman will share “Oasis - Losing the truth of the thing” at Dance at the Odyssey. (Photo by Ale Camona)

Dance at the Odyssey @ Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

The Odyssey’s notorious dance festival returns for its 8th year with a new round of movement artists. According to an interview with LA Dance Chronicle, curator Barbara Müller-Wittmann started the festival out of her love for dance. “If I see something where I think that person has the thing, I trust them completely,” she said. “I say bring whatever you are working on.” This year’s spring iteration begins this weekend with Alejandro Perez & Gretchen Ackerman’s “Oasis - Losing the truth of the thing,” Be sure to return the following weeks for works by Brandon Mathis, Ellen Smith Ahern, Re:born Dance Interactive & Boróka Nagy, Spenser Theberge, and Gheremi Clay.

LOCATION: 2055 South Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
DATES: January 11 - February 16 
PRICE: $28
LINK: https://odysseytheatre.com/whats-on/dance-at-the-odyssey-4/

Maggie Michael, "Speed Bump for Moonrise," 2024. Ink, acrylic, enamel, oil, charcoal, autumn leaves, rain, acts of nature on raw canvas. 56 x 94 in. (Photo courtesy of the artist and Luis De Jesus Los Angeles)

‘Maggie Michael: Root Chords, Earth to Sky’ & ‘Margaret Morgan: Love Must Be Reinvented’ @ Luis De Jesus Los Angeles

Luis De Jesus Los Angeles’ new exhibitions are opening this weekend, presenting shows that share daring abstraction and reflective investigations of family. Maggie Michael’s “Root Chords, Earth to Sky” features her ferocious and dreamlike abstract paintings that utilize a diverse range of materials, from acrylic and oil to soil and insects. Meanwhile, Margaret Morgan’s “Love Must Be Reinvented” is a poetic and visceral conversation with concepts of motherhood and Jean-Luc Godard’s film “Pierrot le Fou.”

LOCATION: 1110 Mateo St., Los Angeles, CA 90021
DATES: January 11 - February 22 
TIME: 10 am - 6 pm Tues. thru Sat.
PRICE: Free 
LINK: https://www.luisdejesus.com/exhibitions 

‘Night Miracles’ @ The Actors’ Gang

Get a little bit of everything out of The Actors’ Gang’s “Night Miracles,” a festival of ten original 10-minute plays created and performed by the ensemble. The content is broad, sharing the full spectrum of the human experience, so be prepared to laugh and cry (tissues not included). Unfamiliar with what The Actors’ Gang is all about? Check out my story with the LA Times about their production of “(Im)migrants of the State.”

LOCATION: 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
DATES: January 9 - February 8
TIMES: 8 pm Thurs. thru Sat., 2 pm Sun. 
PRICE: $25 - $35
LINK: https://theactorsgang.com/ 

Nicolás Benavides (Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic)

Benavides’ Neruda Songs @ Walt Disney Concert Hall

Nicolás Lell Benavides brings Pablo Nerudo’s poetry to life with the world premiere of “Sueño en mi sueño,” piecing together a protagonist with the help of tenor Joshua Blue. The evening program continues its musical reflection on literature with Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout” — which explores Peruvian novelist José María Arguedas’ belief in cultural coexistence — John Hayhurst’s Adagio, and Brahms’ String Quintet No. 2 in G, Op. 111.

LOCATION: 111 S Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
DATE: January 14
TIME: 8 pm
PRICE: $20 - $65
LINK: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/3053/2025-01-14/benavides-neruda-songs

‘Masters of Carpentry: Melding Forest, Skill and Spirit’ @ Japan House LA

Japan House LA’s latest exhibition immerses you in the Japanese daiku, master carpenters who hone the traditions and cultural heritage of the country’s woodcraft. The practice focuses on the nurturing of the environment. Daiku honors nature by seeking the benevolence of mountain deities as they source materials and shape the wood with precision and care. The exhibition is organized into five sections for the five pillars of daiku culture: a carpenter’s refined tools; reverence for nature; the practice of dōmiya daiku (the shrine and temple of carpenters); Kigumi (the beauty of Japanese joinery); and the work of the sukiya daiku.

LOCATION: 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028 
DATES: November 20, 2024 - January 22, 2025
TIME: 11 am - 7 pm Mon. thru Fri., 11 am - 8 pm Sat. thru Sun.
PRICE: Free
LINK: https://www.japanhousela.com/exhibitions/masters-carpentry-melding-forest-skill-spirit-woodworking-daiku-takenaka-dougukan/ 

Things: Family Holiday Happenings

Installation view of "Anabel Juárez: From Sunrise to Sunset" at Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles. (Photo by Matthew Kroening / Courtesy of the artist and Anat Ebgi)

After my two-week hiatus for the holidays, I realized a few art exhibitions had fallen through the cracks. Don’t worry, this weekend is your last chance to check them out. 

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