Arts-Entertainment
“Assemblage: A Collection or Gathering of Things or People,” an exhibit showcasing artists coming together from various backgrounds, will be hosted at The Frame Garden beginning Friday, April 24th. The exhibit utilizes a variety of media, creating works of art from pieces fitted together, including 3-D sculptures and flat collage works on paper.
Works from "Assemblage" mirror both people and community. Each piece is made up of aspects, parts and people distinct from the others. Variations between each piece may be vast or subtle but come together in union as a dynamic and unique work of art, vibrantly showcasing community and individuality. An assembled piece of artwork captures a single fragment of reality or moment in time, yet it also captures how individuals perceive it differently between and within themselves over time as a function of personal development and societal change.
Artists featured in this show include Kelly and Marie Stevenson, Pamela Kendall Schiffer, Katy Kellogg Nygard, Traci Jo Isaly, Laura Bray, and Amber Jean.
Kelly Stevensons featured pieces are a collection of porcelain lamps. Stevenson, an accomplished ceramicist, co-owns The Teslow Art Center with her mother, Marie Stevenson, whose contributions include bird-themed pieces.
Pamela Kendall Schiffer, known for her paintings, says, “I jumped into the project of making both collage and assemblage pieces, and soon realized that this new creative process isn’t so different from the way I make a painting. I still work quietly. The visual process is the same—I have an eye for simplicity, by using a delicate line, by wanting a sort of balance—in abstraction, placement, and in the refinement of images. Over many years, I have come into my own language with my work, and my discernment in aesthetics remains even. I always seek quiet harmony.”
“My work is informed by nature’s color and pattern, by lines in ancient symbols and language,” says textile artist Katy Kellogg Nygard. “I use materials often discarded as a way of honoring the whole and find that this practice offers a deeper appreciation for life’s many layers.”
For her piece titled “Trophy Art,” Amber Jean created a series of intimate reliquaries inspired by the lives of early settlers moving through the landscape by horse and wagon. In those transient crossings, objects were repurposed out of necessity and care, simple containers becoming vessels for what was kept, carried, and quietly revered. “I find myself asking, ‘What do we carry forward?’ and ‘What do we honor?’ These pieces feel like small answers… offerings, held in the palm of the hand.”
“Assemblage” opens Friday, April 24th with an artist’s reception from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at The Frame Garden, 101 S. Main Street in Livingston. The exhibit will be in place through June 16th. For more information, please call 406-222-5122 or email theframegarden@gmail.com