𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳\𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦:

a sound installation by Sarah Umles

The Residency Project is pleased to present 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳\𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 by TRP’s founding artist, Sarah Umles. This two-channel sound installation premiered in September 2024 at the inaugural LA Climate Week exhibition, At the Intersections. Now, Umles removes this sonic experience from the gallery context and introduces it to two, alternating outdoor environments in Pasadena. Visitors are encouraged to take in their built and natural surroundings, absorbing the sound of 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳\𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 as it inevitably comes into contact with other ambient noises—trees, traffic, birds, helicopters, and so forth.

Viewing schedule:
Monday 4/7, 6-7pm at Martin’s Bench
Tuesday 4/8, 6-7pm at Desiderio Neighborhood Park
Wednesday 4/9, 6-7pm at Martin’s Bench
Thursday 4/10, 6-7pm at Desiderio Neighborhood Park
Saturday 4/12, 3-5pm at Martin’s Bench
Sunday 4/13, 12-2pm at Desiderio Neighborhood Park

mother\nature features an audio recording of a humpback whale mother and her baby, captured by Annie Crawley, played in dissonance with the classic lullaby Rock-a-Bye Baby, elongated to 10 minutes. Already ominous in its message (“...when the bough breaks, the baby will fall…”), the song becomes even more haunting when performed at this slower speed. mother\nature alludes to the precarious state of our planet and the narrowing window of time we have to effect positive changes that will benefit generations to come.


Sarah Umles is a queer-femme Ashkenazi Jewish artist stewarding Hahamog'na-Tongva tribal land in Pasadena, California. She explores how social-cultural identity and self-knowing are constructed through our relationships with material culture, visual media, nature, and technology. Her transdisciplinary practice spans installations of sculpture, text, audio/video, and photography; performances rooted in ancestral knowledge and ritual; social sculpture and community-engaged art, as well as experimental curatorial and archival practices.