Fruits of artistic labor: First show of Stocker Gallery season
plucks new artists and creations
Oh what a web we weave when first we — make art?
Yes, it’s quite and artistic “web,” according to the sextet of artists whose works are featured in “6 by 6,” the latest show at the Beth K. Stocker Art Gallery.
The show runs until Sept. 4. The six northeast Ohio artists whose works are featured are Liz Burgess, Si-Yun Chang, Linda Grashoff, Sue Copeland Jones, Ruta Butkus Marino and Kathleen Van Meter.
Although all six work in fiber of one sort of another (including silkworm threads), each presents a unique spin on using their creativity with different contemporary and non-traditional materials. The artists have a synergetic relationship, said Joan Perch, director of the gallery. She described them as longtime friends who get feedback from each other.
“All are looking at fiber,” she said. “Historically, fiber, weaving, embroidery and quilting have been women’s work, so when these contemporary women bring it into this time period (today), it’s really interesting the way they combine the traditional with non-traditional.”
The new sewing circle
Perch sees the way the six work as a bit like an old-fashioned sewing circle but one where each uses quite different materials. It reminds her of “back in the day” when people didn’t need therapy, because groups gathered naturally to share work in the kitchen and around the house.
“It was in the context of their daily lives,” she said about the social therapy of such communal tasks.
These, she said, were inter-generational activities, where the younger participants could learn from the older ones as they explored different options to life’s problems.
She said she believes women are still attracted to the niceties of fiber and fabric even today.
The participants this Stocker Center’s modern “sewing circle’ include:
Liz Burgess
Liz Burgess “collaborates” with silkworms, Perch said. Burgess has been interested in silk and dying silk so she’s been raising silkworms in the spring. When the worms begin to spin, Burgess introduces her own sculptural pieces. It could be a piece of driftwood or a book to their area. They spin on those pieces, Perch explained. The artist has no direct control, but the process can result in beauty. “The resulting works bring issues of nurture and protection,” said Perch
Si-Yun Chang
In contrast, Si-Yun Chang, a Korean native who has lived in the United States since 1988, works with hand-drawn papers she orders from Korea. She twists, weaves and paints, and by doing so, creates extensive woven fabrics.
Linda Grashoff
Linda Grashoff draws much of her art materials from the an exploration of the natural world, Perch said. Grashoff uses materials not often thought of as “arty,” such as rusty deposits from the Vermilion River. Through a combination of close-up views thanks to her photography, she is able to “see” the microbes that make their home in the river and use that view in her art. Her photographs are the beginning of a process that includes the patterns she sees in nature, plus natural pigments combined with embroidery techniques, plus paper and drawing.
Sue Copeland Jones
Sue Copeland Jones uses nature, too, but in a more direct way. She creates screen prints, mono prints and wall portraits directly from flowers and vegetables. She rolls inks on the leaves and plants and then puts the image on the fabrics, Perch said.
Ruta Butkus Marino
Ruta Butkus Marino also uses food and natural images, but in yet another way, Perch said. Marino creates appliqueed block prints from fruits such as cherries and oranges to create a kind of Pop Art. She’s little like Andy Warhol, Perch said, but Marino uses things one might find in the produce section rather than the Brillo pad boxes that Warhol used.
Kathleen Van Meter
An exploration of the properties of two and three dimensional objects furnishes a basis for Kathleen Van Meter’s creations made from natural found objects, Perch said. “Found objects” are things which an artist comes across that catches her eye and she knows from looking at them they can be transformed into something else, something artistic.
More at Stocker Gallery
“More things are happening the gallery than ever,” Perch said. “We’re collaborating with the community as well as with instructors on campus, to make (the gallery) a real living-learning classroom, not just a static place to just come and view art.”
Perch said the gallery can and should integrate work by the community and help people to connect with art, “We want to enrich lives with the art that we feel so passionate about.” The gallery is also working to enlist words (spoken and written) with visual arts.
The next show — Sept. 10 through Oct. 9 — will pair photographs by Keith Berr with poetry by Bruce Weigl in a show titled “Ruins and Life.” There will be a reception for the artists from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 10. The show is a means for Berr and Weigl tell personal stories of life in Southeast Asia from the streets of Cambodia to the waters of Halong Bay, Vietnam.
Other shows this year are “Above and Beyond 2: Art and Installation by 8 Graffiti Artists,” which will be curated by graffiti artist Bob Peck. It will show the work of eight artists who explore graffiti-inspired themes through fine art and a large scale group collaborative installation. Lorain Community College students will also with Peck to develop their own works.
The Third Annual Winter Fine Art and Craft Exhibit and Sale will be Nov. 19 to Dec. 11. There will be an open house from 4 to 8 p.m. Nov. 19. Regional artists will present fine arts and crafts on sale for holiday gifting.
If the Stocker Center sounds more like a happening than a museum, that’s the way Perch likes it. “It isn’t just a static place to look at art, but you can just look at art if you want to.
“But it’s also a place with lots of cool things happening.”
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