There is a mind-bending (and fiber bending) exhibition of out-of-this-world baskets at the Wayne Art Center right now. Green from the Get Go: International Contemporary Basketmakers features more than 40 works by artists who take inspiration from nature and the history of basketry. The website explains the concept:
Since time immemorial artists and craftspeople have been highly attuned to the beauty and resources of the natural world, whether depicting a pristine landscape, untouched by man, or harvesting plants and minerals for pigments and brushes. Sustainability is part of the design and craft process, which requires a heightened sensitivity to materials, one which honors the caring for, replenishing, and repurposing of materials.
If you go, seek out the basket made of willow. I really wanted to reach out and touch it.
Also up right now in Wayne’s Davenport Gallery is CraftForms 2011, their 17th International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Craft. Elisabeth Agro, the Nancy M. McNeil Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, reviewed 484 applicants with 894 works.
There are 17 exceptional makers from Pennsylvania featured.
- Christine Alaniz
- Tristyn Albright
- David Bennett
- Michael Brolly
- Valerie Jo Coulson
- Dan de Vos
- Brian Defrees
- Wendy Edsall-Kerwin
- David Fraser
- Cynthia Friedman
- Jocelyn Kolb
- Mike Korsak
- Melissa Mytty
- Sue Reno
- Brad Smith
- Joy Stember
- Barney Stone
CraftForm photo credit: Sue Reno. Green from the Get Go photo credits: Tom Grotta and Wayne Art Center
You may also enjoy: Berks Art Alliance 34th Annual Open Juried Art Exhibition | 8th Art Star Craft Bazaar | The Art & Craft of Small Town Living |
