Dodging shredded tires on Interstate 77 may make us frustrated. But to New York artist Chakaia Booker, tires are a point of fascination. "Living in New York City with lots of car fires and seeing the change in the material once it was burned, the textures and the movements of the tires became something of interest," says Booker. Twelve of her evocative sculptures and prints are on exhibit at the Cleveland Institute of Art's Reinberger Gallery in Take the Highway through Dec. 18. For an abstract artwork such as Conversion (pictured), Booker twists and twirls tattered tires and salvaged piping by hand and secures them with metal fasteners in the pursuit of balance. Although she has been molding tires into art since the '80s, her new works have evolved as tire manufacturers improve models every few years by increasing the size and redesigning treads. "The changing of the material keeps the conversation growing and developing," says Booker. 11610 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, 216-421-7407, cia.edu
Tread Heavily
Chakaia Booker's tire sculptures roll into the Cleveland Institute of Art.
