There are many interesting things happening in the library, although you do not know all the details. During the month of August the Foyer Gallery walls are abounding with abstract acrylics by local artist and climber听鈥淐ortez鈥� presenting his recent series entitled听鈥淚f the Walls Could Talk.鈥� The numerous stimulating creations include some very large canvasses with a show stopping element 鈥� not a听diptych or a triptych but 鈥� a painting听made up of eight pieces. Is that an 鈥渙ctatrych?鈥�
Cortez does not attempt to represent external reality but seeks to achieve effects with the use of mostly acrylic along with multi-layered mixed media to develop interesting textures and forms in a somewhat psychedelic style with the use of听reflective or glow-in-the-dark paints, iridescent colours and crackling shapes.
Cortez says, 鈥淚 open the imagination, allow a freedom in nothing being there. It鈥檚 all up to you!鈥�
With no formal training, Cortez is primarily self-taught. Visual art has played a major role in his life in the past decade, which is a relatively short period of time compared to his 26-year obsession with rock climbing. Residing in 麻豆社国产since 2000, Cortez has made it his goal to infinitely improve and enhance the natural beauty all around him. His visual expressions are mere reflections of how Cortez has been beckoned.
In the cases, ceramic artist听Andrea Hoff听presents 鈥淪ticks + Stones,鈥� distinctive and artful creations, telling stories on basic everyday objects, honouring the antiquity of pottery.听The pieces in the show, both unique and practical, form a progression of colour palettes, moving through blues and reds and elements of abstracted narrative over the last few years.
鈥淭his series for me embarks more deeply into my storytelling elements within the ceramic medium,鈥� says Hoff, who is also a writer/illustrator and finds inspiration in the natural world, architecture, painting and primarily storytelling. She admits, 鈥淭he stories that come out in my ceramics are often more abstract than my writing, which tends to focus on written and illustrated memoir. In ceramics I can let the magic and the obscure in storytelling play with the form of the clay.鈥澨�
In the last few years Hoff has moved away from wheel-work to be more focused on hand-building and slab construction, relishing the unique nature of clay, as it can be shaped and formed through pinching and draping it over forms such as tree rounds and cuttings from the garden to leave memories in the clay.听
鈥淲orking with hand building has given me a new sense of respect for the medium of clay 鈥� moulding it, dying it and pinching it into form allows me to really feel the way the clay behaves. It鈥檚 become more a balance for me between what the clay can do and what I envision for the piece. Often, I have to change my expectations and let the clay itself inform the final outcome. If this makes sense (and doesn鈥檛 sound too much like a Jedi Knight potter) 鈥� I listen to the clay more now and I鈥檝e learned to see the beauty in imperfections,鈥� Hoff says, referring to these important aspects of her development as a ceramic artist.
In the future, Hoff is looking to further explore narration in commissioned sets that depict stories from a person鈥檚 life, translating as a memoirist and a biographer 鈥� combining the stories of life onto objects that will be used to add joy to special celebrations and to the everyday. All the works of art are finished with a food safe glaze. For more info, see the website: www.sticksandstonesceramics.com.
听Meet the artists at their 鈥渙ff-the-wall鈥� puppet show and opening reception听featuring musician Liesl听Petersen on Aug. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m.听at the Foyer Gallery in the 麻豆社国产Public Library. The shows run from Aug. 2 to Sept. 5.
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Editor鈥檚 note: Toby Jaxon is curator of the Foyer Gallery, located at the entrance to the 麻豆社国产Public Library on Second Avenue.
