Thyen-Clark Cultural Center galleries featuring mixed-media and wearable art opening May 4
The galleries at Thyen-Clark Cultural Center will feature mixed media artist Wendy Calman with a work of varied pieces and artist Judi Krew’s selection of wearable art beginning this week.
Both exhibits will open May 4 with Calman’s work on display until July 23 and Krew’s work on display until June 25.
Bloomington artist Calman’s installation exhibit is a display of patinaed brass, digital photography, cloth, brass, copper, aluminum, lead, plastic, wood, acrylic paint, computer components, motors, light, speaker, handmade mechanical elements.
The piece, titled ‘Ties’, is a mixed-media kinetic construction incorporating sound and active viewer participation, presenting an environment that is entered into by visitors, as if guests to an outdoor shrine. The work derives its principal form from Tibetan Buddhist temple banners that hang in the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet and the ancient Buddhist monument of Borobudur in Central Java, Indonesia. Its overarching theme is the illusory and temporary nature of our existence, where “things are not always what they appear to be.”
Calman states, “In religious practice as in other philosophical thought, reflection gives way to revelation and visualization on many levels that may change the way that we look at our lives, our lessons, our families, our inevitable end as well as our possible rebirth into some new form of existence. Ties is a kinetic construction that presents a sequence of reflections and revelations of changing imagery and sound, giving physical form to the work’s universal concepts and the deeply personal contexts that engage these issues. Influenced by Buddhist, Vietnamese Cao Dai, and Hindu temple art forms and architecture from Tibet, Southeast Asia and India, the title Ties with its accompanying artifacts commemorate the death of my father, a dentist and a lifelong sailor, in the use of 96 of his neckties and other belongings that serve as “relics” associated with both our psychic and mundane natures.”
Calman holds a Bachelor Degree in Art History from the University or Pittsburgh, a Master’s Degree of Fine Arts in Printmaking and a Master’s Degree in Education Art from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. Calman also took additional studies at the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.
Krew’s exhibit will feature over thirty wearable pieces of artwork titled, ‘Hoard Couture: Where Art Meets Fashion’.
Krew states, “This ongoing wearable art series under the trademarked name Hoard Couture uses clothing design to creatively display a collection of items, explore contemporary social issues or work with unconventional materials as textiles. I embrace the mantra of reuse, repurpose, reconsider and reimagine to guide the overall concept of each piece. What began nine years ago as a small-scale sculptural dress series to explore the idea of why we feel the need to hold onto “things”, this project has grown into an exploration rooted in problem solving. Many questions are asked before a garment begins to take shape and hardly ever does a piece turn out as expected due to issues with weight, attachment, material or purpose. How can a sensitive social issue current to our times best be presented so as to start a conversation without making a personal judgement? How can delicate items attach together so as not to damage the material or its essence yet still highlight a collection? How can one wear a garment on the runway taking into consideration its weight, mobility and conditions of the staging? These are only some of the challenges I face when deciding what to create. The original intent of Hoard Couture, to reduce an accumulation of things, has evolved over time into a series that sometimes looks back at our past and perhaps also forward to our future. These wearable works of art embody the joy of the creative process and the inherent elements of visual design. Provided for the viewer with each garment are separate individual statements in my own words to enhance understanding and appreciation for what is on display.”
Judi Krew has been a working artist since 1982 upon graduation from the University of Akron, having established the Honors program for the Art Department. A Master degree in Art Education from Case Western Reserve University dual program with the Cleveland Institute of Art followed in 1984. Since then, she has worked in visual merchandising, museum education, as a high school art teacher and an active community volunteer all while maintaining a successful studio and exhibition career.
Opening Reception for both exhibits will take place on Thursday, May 4, 2023, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wendy will join us for the evening and will give a Gallery Talk at 5:30 p.m.
