How to go:
What: Ohio Designer Craftsmen, The Best of 2012
Where: Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. Fifth, Columbus
When: May 6 - June 24; Opening reception:1-4 p.m. Sun., May 6
More Info: (614) 486-4402; www.ohiocraft.org
Dayton artist Pat Antonick and Yellow Springs artist Pam Geisel were the only two Dayton-area artists whose works were chosen for The 29th Annual juried Ohio Craftsmen Member’s Show, The Best of 2012.
Antonick’s work is a cotton fiber piece entitled, “Muriel II.” Geisel’s work is, “Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom,” with cotton fabric, batting, netting, yarn, metal buttons and glass beads.
This year’s juror was Lloyd E. Herman, founding director of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. The show features works in clay, glass, fiber, metal, wood, and mixed media. In total, there are 100 works representing 95 artists for the show. Although some are not for sale, the works range in price from $18,500 for Susan Shie’s art quilt, to $90 for Kaname Takada’s earthenware plate.
Both Antonick and Geisel’s works were in the fiber category.
The inspiration for Antonick’s digital textile work is her late, ex-mother-in-law, Muriel Herold. She lived in Los Angeles when Antonick first met her and she made quite an interesting first impression. Herold was one of her stage names, and she had a portfolio that she took to casting directors that depicted her in various character modes: demure, sexy, intellectual, etc. It’s the “Look at Me!” Mae West pose that Antonick remembers most.
“I like to refer to her as my son’s grandmother. She reminded me of one of Fellini’s characters; she’d always carry a one-hundred-dollar bill around in her cleavage,” said Antonick, whose work has been chosen approximately ten times for this exhibit. “She was always moving in the middle of the night, because her creditors were after her. That was the first time I’d ever heard of anyone having multiple Social Security cards.”
Antonick took that image and scanned it into a computer software program. She then digitized and gray-scaled the picture. She enlarged the pixel size so the initial image starts to fade out. That’s when she sews together her image with self-dyed fabric blocks. The detail seen through a backward monocle or camera lens cannot be seen with the naked eye. A monocle is actually part of the viewing experience of Antonick’s work at the Ohio Craft Museum.
There are many layers of fabric and other materials in Geisel’s work. A fine art fabric work designed in warm colors, ‘matted’ to emulate an old-fashioned picture album. Magenta, pink, orange and gold blossoms mingle along the edges, while three flowers bloom toward the center.
“My inspiration for this piece was the large-scale print floral fabric used in the borders. I made the three square fabric mosaics using small pieces of fabric fused to a backing fabric, covered with netting, and then quilted to the quilt,” said Geisel, who was also included in the Best of Show in ‘08, ‘09, and ‘11. “I made the mosaics to capture the energy, motion and color in the large-scale print.
Geisel enhanced the work with hand-sewn yarn, beads, thread, and ribbon connecting the mosaics to the borders. She is a self-taught artist, with experience as a graphic designer. Antonick graduated from the School of the Dayton Art Institute, and attended Ohio University. Awards include a Purchase Award at the Best of 2003, Ohio Designer Craftsmen, and an Award of Excellence for Earth in Balance at Rosewood Gallery.
Other area artists in the current exhibit are: Scott Dooley of Springfield for “Industrial Amphora” in porcelain, and Brookville artist Carrie Longley for her mixed media, “Umbilical Cord Reliquary of Mykah Elizabeth Longley.” Cincinnati artists are Leah Busch and Sandra Gross for glass, “Bite Toast,” Gross again for a glass work “Filtered Knotted and Pulled,” and Brenda Tarbell for stoneware, “Shallow Basin.”
Oxford artists include: Barbara McGonagle for fabric, “Print Error,” Geoff Riggle for metal, “Dichotomy,” Neil Simak for porcelain, “Bringing up,” and Erika Uzmann for mixed media, “Grain-Fed vs. Grass-Fed Brooches.” Uzmann also won the ODC Board of Trustees Emerging Craftsman Award for that work.
The Ohio Craft Museum was refurbished this past winter with a new reception station, new flooring, and fresh paint in the gallery/gift shops. The Best of 2012 will travel to the Wayne Center for the Arts in Wooster for July 12 to August 18; and the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in Hamilton for September 14 through November 9. The works can also be seen at OhioCraft.org.
Contact contributing writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.
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