I’m pleased to show new work with felt artist Wendy Mueller in “Resurfacing” at the Jamestown Arts Center in Rhode Island. We will have an artist talk on Thursday, Sept 29 at 6 - 7:30. “Resurfacing” was curated by Brooke Goldstein who wrote this about the show:
Resurfacing brings you through the exterior and invites the viewer to inquire what lies beneath. On the surface, Kate Barber and Wendy Mueller's work seem opposed to each other; only connected through the medium of fiber. When you dig deeper, they both use layering to bring us into the artist’s thoughts and process. Resurfacing is a love story with materiality told in two different visual languages both bringing us back to color, shape, texture and form in the most unexpected ways.
Artists Kate Barber and Wendy Mueller work intuitively allowing the medium to act as their muse.
Barber’s woven and embroidered pieces seem to dance off the wall. Her use of color, geometry and layering delight the viewer leaving them mesmerized. The bold forms her pieces take create a framework of structure surrounding but not containing her playful and boundless textures.
Mueller’s heavily layered felted works illuminate an emotional connection with nature. Her use of organic shapes and natural colors speak to a deeper world underneath the surface. Her larger than life triptychs inspire the viewer to come in closer and immerse themselves in the atmosphere she creates. Her felted vessels stimulate the eye with her use of hand dyed wool roving to create a colorful nesting feel.
Resurfacing asks the viewer to question not only the what of each piece but also the how, hoping to delight and educate all who experience it. Viewers are invited to visually wander through Resurfacing trekking further and further to find joy, nature and a stronger understanding of fiber as art.