Tropical Paradise featuring Cappi Phillips & Martina Celerin at The Orchard Gallery
April 2-30, 2009Both women are from Bloomington, IN and have been planning this exhibition together for some time. Martina's wall weavings have won her several awards, have gotten her published in "Craft Magazine", and featured on HGTV and PBS. Cappi used recycled and re-purposed materials to create her one of a kind sculptures. She works with both conventional and unconventional mosaic processes. "If our trash is to come back to haunt us, it should be in a form we can enjoy", says Cappi, who went "green" long before it was cool to do so.
From Cappi.....The idea of recycling objects into art is not necessarily a unique
concept, however the idea that more and more people on our planet are embracing its creation is uniquely positive. Art created using recycled objects goes beyond just feeding the soul and enriching the mind. It becomes a vehicle for positive social change.
From Martina.....
My inspiration is drawn from both nature and my imagination; some pieces are scenes
taken from memories of family walks or places I have visited. Others are much more abstract, capturing an idea, a personality or simply reflect the feelings evoked by an event or geographical area. All of the pieces, though, are true weavings, integrating the materials, landscapes or emotions I've drawn from my travels and experiences.
Developing my technique: In the past I focused on oil pastels and acrylic painting. Independently, experimentation with each of these has been useful for my current medium of choice, fiber. Work with oil pastels forced me to focus on visual mixing of color, and the powerful interplay of colors when they are applied proximally compared to when they are physically distant. Acrylic painting allowed for quick mixing of colors both before and after applying it to the canvas, but, as with oil pastels, I became dissatisfied with the flatness of the art. I began gluing found objects onto the canvas and then painting over them. This was better, but still not enough. Eventually I realized that I needed to create my canvas. Weaving allows me to incorporate objects, textures and shapes, as well as colors and coarsenesses into the canvas. By combining this with needle felting, I have been able to push the dimensional limits of wall art and to create weaving-felting fusions that are 3D tapestries.
My materials: The essence of art is a balance between contrast and harmony. I'm creating beauty, scenes of pristine places and idyllic impressions, using discarded and unwanted things. My art studio is filled with a plethora of odds and ends, new and old. I have yarns of all weights, colors and descriptions, much of it recovered as scrap from local weavers and knitters, jars of fossils, shells and weathered rocks. These sit beside dozens of containers of beads and discarded jewelry from all over the world, waiting for just the right piece. There are strips of leather, hemp baskets undone, wires disentangled, and pieces of lace, bits and pieces of everyday life, waiting to create a specific effect in a weaving.
OPEN: Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat: 10-5. Tues & Thurs: 10-7 .
Where: The Orchard Gallery of Fine Art
6312-A Covington Road
Fort Wayne, IN
260-436-0927
www.theorchardgallery.com
Dennis Hettler
Alethea Gerardot
David Malicki
