We live on a planet with extraordinary beauty, yet with fearsome power to destroy; amazingly resilient, but fragile. The artists in Primal Forces: Earth have captured the elegance of and threats to our planet with sensitivity and expertise.
Each composition has its own visual rhythm that invites the viewer to explore the whole and delight in the details. Use of light was especially impressive. Whether bright and colorful like Fastwater debacle: what lies beneath, or subtle and restrained like Earth to Earth, most have a pleasing glow that draws one closer. That closer look does not disappoint.
Earth’s beauty is celebrated in Nice Ice #1 and A Winter’s Morning, while nature’s surprises are revealed in The Language of Trees and Cerulean Lake. Allure and tragedy are combined in After the Warming - Permanent Winter, View from Above, brown, Greenland Is Melting, Faultline, and
Imbalance: Algae Bloom in the Great Lakes.
The artists included represent mastery in the vast number of techniques employed in contemporary art quilts. Viewers can see high-tech photographic manipulation as well as hand dyed and marbled cloth. New materials dominate, but there are also reused wool ties and material transformed by moths.
I hope viewers will enjoy the remarkable proficiency and individual styles represented in this first of three SAQA Primal Forces exhibitions celebrating planet earth. Perhaps some will be inspired to do just a bit more to ensure our planet remains an amazing home for generations to come.
About the Juror:
Sue Cavanaugh is a stitcher, gatherer, and dyer of cloth for 2 and 3-D works and installation art. She also makes lino prints and draws cartoons. Cavanaugh works by hand with cloth, cord, dye, paint, and occasionally wood and wire. Her work has been in both national and international exhibitions at the Columbus Museum of Art, Oceanside Museum of Art, Springfield Museum of Art (Ohio), Ross Museum of Art, Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum of Art, Ohio Craft Museum, and Zanesville Museum of Art.
Awards include Best of Show, Shibori Cut Loose exhibit, Textile Center, Minneapolis; Ruth Lantz Fiber Award; Janet Long Memorial Award for Excellence in Fiber; Ohio Arts Council Professional Award; and the Lynn Goodwin Borgman Award for Surface Design at Quilt National. She was the recipient of a Dresden Residency in Germany, an Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and an Individual Artist Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council.
Most known for her work with fiber and installations, Cavanaugh has also created a book of cartoons entitled, A Corporation is a Person Like the Emperor’s New Clothes Were Real. Seven of the 50 cartoons have been transformed into lino prints, a recent endeavor of hers involving carving linoleum plates to create limited edition plates—another medium that allows her to communicate her thoughts with a sense of humor. Sue lives in Columbus, Ohio, and has a B.S. and M.A. from Ohio State University.
