“He, She, We” the solo and collaborative works of Brenda Heim and Doug Hays Lake Eustis Museum of Art

What happens when you mix a calligrapher with a blacksmith? Well, when the sparks settle down, you have a show that is simultaneously spiritual, stimulating and stunning. “He, She, We,” featuring the solo and collaborative work of Doug Hays and Brenda Heim, is at the Lake Eustis Museum of Art from March 8 through April 28, 2013.  

Hays, a sculptor, began his career as a skilled craftsman and emerged as a sensitive metal artist who pushes his medium, making steel seem as if it flows on the wisps of wind.  His respect for his medium is evident.  He explains that metal is tortured from its original state to be slick and shiny, then rusts and drips downward, seeking its return to the earth. He manages to put lightness and humor into the steel, all the while creating a tension between the material and its message. 

Working with fire and its transformative power is what initially drew Hays to the medium.  His large scale works can be seen throughout Florida, but here, outdoors at the museum, they are more personal and accessible. 

Indoors, Hays has presented the equine form in a totally new light. Horses, riddled with negative space and with manes flowing in their imagined gallop, pique the imagination and spirit.

Heim, an abstract expressionist painter for more than twenty years, was encouraged to step beyond her small calligraphic pieces and go big. She approached the large white field and let the movement pour through her entire body, embracing the active, motion painting that has become her artistic signature.

Her work, richly based in the Asian sensibility, is large scale and free, combining  classical materials with an avant-garde sense of adventure. The works seem to emanate from a place deep within her, as though they call to her for a visual voice. 

There is a decidedly spiritual Zen quality to her work. Using broad brush strokes with sumi ink and acrylics, the enso form is present in much her work. The enso, or circle, is considered  an expression of the moment ... when the mind is empty and free to simply let the body/spirit create. Heim paints in the moment which seems to serenade her with a song that only she can hear, but one that enjoys a visceral presence through her hand. When she approaches a canvas she does so with an open mind and the inspiration, which she says sometimes is a great growl,  sometimes louder than others, rises within and through her, pulling her to the canvas.
Spirituality imbues the solo works of both these artists, but, it is their collaborative work that drives each to a new level. Together, Heim and Hays have created a body of work that is simultaneously divergent and connected. There is a tension in the juxtaposition of their respective medium, yet there is undeniable harmony. Heim’s enso form, loose and free, gets new energy in steel under Hays’ talented hand. One has to wonder how something so delicate can be so powerful. But, that is the magic of their collaborative work. 

Their collaboration extends beyond their studio work as they invite viewers into the process of creating art for public places. Collaboration under their artistic eyes took them to the classroom, where they worked with fourth grade students, their teacher, and other professionals in creating from concept to completion, a sculpture that will have a permanent home at the Lake Eustis Museum of Art. This project was generously sponsored by Quammen Healthcare Consultants and First Green Bank.

It has been said that art does not exist without the viewer. If that is the case, then give life to these works by seeing them at Lake Eustis Museum of Art. 

“He, She, We” runs through April 28, 2013 at the Lake Eustis Museum of Art. Located at 1 West orange Avenue, Eustis, Florida. Lake Eustis Museum of Art (LEMA), is beautifully situated overlooking Lake Eustis, adjacent to Ferran Park. Admission is suggested $5.00 donation. For information, please call 352-483-2900

by Fern Matthews

Fern Mathews is a mixed media artist recognized for her textural work and use of color. Matthews’ work is included in both public and private art collections throughout the country and The Caribbean, and shows in New York and New Orleans.

FernMatthews.com

 

Bodies in Motion: The Figure As Vehicle exhibition at Mount Dora Center for the Arts

By M.W.Kimmel

Sir Isaac Newton's first law of motion, "A body in motion tends to stay in motion", has been creatively expressed by artists John Carollo & Marsha De Broske, in the exhibit The Figure as Vehicle.  It is described on the web site as "a gallery show of figurative art in both two and three dimensions ... infused with a sense of motion which appears to be captured for a split second".  That is quite an accurate description.  In addition, each piece has the ability to transport you to various moments in time or history or mythology.

The Rapture and Duality by John Carollo

For an artist to capture motion on film takes skill, but to capture it by way of sculpture, painting and mixed media assemblies takes an entirely different type of skill, imagination & ingenuity.  Like a waterfall in frigid winter air John Carollo has frozen moments of fluidity in his watercolor paintings.  And, like the American flag astronauts planted on the moon that appears to be waving in the breeze yet resides in the vacuum of space, his mixed media assemblies display dynamic qualities.  What is most impressive is how he translated the chaotic flow of his water color to his mixed media pieces.  

One of his newest works is Icarus Ascends.  This wind whirled weave of materials soars sun-ward as the light ignites the polychromasia of the hand painted silk and radiates off the polished aluminum to grab your attention as you await his fate.

A complimentary contradiction to John's prismatic works are the monochromatic sculptures of Marsha De Broske.  At first glance you will notice the solid bronze castings on marble foundations that dominate her portfolio.  Moments of self awareness and introspection are figuratively captured with all the qualities of human life.  However, upon closer inspection you begin to wonder if many of the figures are bronze at all.  This is the magic, the little something extra, that Marsha has developed.  Like John, Marsha is innovating new techniques into her skill set.  She combines wire and soft strips of cotton to mold her human forms and finishes them in such a way that they resemble the bronze patina.  It's a remarkable way of perceiving the softness of the cloth and the hardness of bronze in one form.

Marsha really nailed the "Figure as Vehicle" theme with her piece "War".  It truly moved me.  This composition morphs it's subject through a story of terror and destruction in much the same way that a stop motion film is created, by carefully contorting and modifying the figure and capturing each pose for a fraction of a second.  It screams heartache, fear, torture and pain while it disintegrates into eternal silence.

For this particular show, Marsha and John saw an opportunity to utilize the large picture window of the gallery.  They collaborated on a design that showcases both of their talents and visions.  You won't see it here though.  You will have to visit the Mount Dora Center for the Arts, in Mount Dora, where this traveling show has made a stop.  Mount Dora is a sleepy little burg rising from the hillside shores of Lake Dora.  Concentrated within three square blocks of the downtown area are a variety of galleries, shops and dining establishments which make for a wonderful leisurely day trip.  You can see "The Figure as Vehicle" now until March 2nd.