The Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery reopened this past weekend, debuting a new art exhibit titled “Impression.”
Due to COVID-19 guidance, there wasn’t an opening reception for the exhibition, but those interested in viewing the art pieces can do so on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Guest artists for the exhibit are Spencer Brewer, assemblage; Esther Siegel, assemblage; and Jenny Lynn Hall, plaster/oil abstract painting. Resident artists are Laura Paine Carr, Jane Gardner, Pamela Heck, Terry Holleman and Hanya Popova Parker. Pamela Heck, acrylic painting/mixed media, is the featured resident artist for ‘Impression.’
Artist Statements, provided by the Cloverdale Arts Alliance
Esther Siegel, assemblage
Siegal’s “late in life artist” emerged from the scrapbooking world. She expanded her art to unique one of a kind greeting cards working often reusing paper materials. Eventually a natural progression occurred into using 3-dimensional l objects creating ‘found art’ or assemblage. Her pieces are a mixture of whimsical and dark humor. Anything goes as themes such as Altered Barbies, Twisted Toasters, Horse People, Mandalas, and Book art to name just a few. The objects collected come from garage sales, thrift stores, and “gifts” from friends. The fun of recreating their purpose provides enjoyment and satisfaction for both this artist as well as her viewer.
Spencer Brewer, assemblage
Spencer Brewer creates ‘High Whimsey’— fantastical pieces of sculptures out of vintage or unusual objects inspiring viewers with a sense of delight, surprise and many times awe. The studio, the “Barn of Curiosities, Oddities and Light,” is a wonderland of eccentric odds and obscure ephemera.
“For most of my life my passion has been the piano — creating, recording and producing music as well as working on over 20,000 pianos, crank phonographs, players and pump organs. Restoring and working on thousands of pianos made over the centuries has been an inspiring lens into how well-crafted and executed mechanisms were made, all for the enjoyment of the players and listeners.”
Vintage parts, machines, drawings or industrial era ephemera are inspirations for his sculptures, “I don’t make things look old; they are old.”
Analog relics from the early 19th century through the 1920s were envisioned, graphically drawn and physically manufactured to last lifetimes out of the best materials available from those eras. From these historical materials, Spencer creates sculptures in a way that begs the viewer to wonder — ‘was this real?’ Whimsy, wonder, curiosity and humor are essential in the work while staying true to the original part’s intended uses. Spencer’s hope is the sculptures inspire others to think out outside the box and find their own muse.
Spencer Brewer and Esther Siegel, Joint Collaborations
Transforming everyday cast-offs into something extraordinary. Brewer and Siegel have a passion for creating quirky and fantastical pieces of art out of re-purposed, or ‘found art’ materials. From the whimsical and humorous to the punk and dark, they inspire viewers with a sense of delight, surprise and sometimes awe.
Working both separately and as a team, Brewer and Siegel confer regularly on their artwork. “We don’t always have the same vision, but we always listen, and that feedback can open new doors.” Their studio is a wonderland of eccentric odds and ends and then some. Nicknamed the “Barn of Curiosities, Oddities and Light” or “Art Barn,” one discovers a much-venerated collection of eccentric obsolete ephemera and vintage electromechanical obscura giving these artists endless options for their transformative art.
Jenny Lynn Hall, plaster/oil abstract painting
Jenny Lynn Hall is specialized in texture driven, abstract painting, realized in both plaster and oils. She challenges the idea that there need be a division between the decorative and fine arts by making large-scale pieces that create an environment. These concepts are worked through in smaller scale pieces.
While living in Italy, she developed a painting technique that combines painting, drawing and lime plaster. This allows her to take advantage of the structural integrity and richness of ancient building materials while developing a personal vocabulary. For the past five years, she has been inspired by the transcendental quality found in nature and its capacity to provoke feelings of both profound solemnity and an unpredictable strength. Multiple layers of plaster and paint invoke the passing of time, energy dispersed, created and renewed. Her main influences are Anselm Kiefer and Antoni Tapies, for their use of different texture and text, Mark Rothko, for the incredible worlds he creates, and John Cage, for his experimentation with chance.
Pamela Heck, acrylic painting/mixed media
Art has been part of Pamela Heck’s life as long as she can remember. To her delight, at the age of nine, her parents enrolled her at the Wyomissing Institute of Fine Art. She has been a serious artist ever since. Pamela specializes in acrylic painting and mixed media work. She is also a published author of memoir, short story and poetry.
Whether she is painting realistically or creating mixed media pieces with a more impressionistic flavor, there is a unifying air of mystery in her work that invites questions and personal interpretation. Pamela spent three weeks last summer as a resident artist in Nérac, France, working on a special project — a nonfiction picture book for children. She is a resident artist at the Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery in Cloverdale, CA.
For more information about the exhibit, visit http://www.cloverdaleartsalliance.org.
