Tag: Gyöngy Laky

Art Assembled: Highlights from July

July 30, 2025 0 Comment

Last month we highlighted a series of engaging works by artists from across the globe — Latvia, America, the Netherlands, and Japan.

February 2025 II, Lija Rage
9lr February 2025 II, Lija Rage, painted wooden sticks, wire, glue and fabric
23.5” x 23.5”, 2025. Photo by Tom Grotta

First up was February 2025 II, by the late Lija Rage (LV). “I create my fiber works by painting little sticks and wrapping them in copper wire, by gluing and sowing, putting layer upon layer until the work seems finished,” Rage once explained.  “Textile and fiber art are modern arts. I believe that modern world culture cannot be closed. Each of us grows up from the culture we live in, through centuries, which further on is subjected to other impacts and becomes interwoven with the world culture influences.” Rage aimed to create “a mystique where each thread, metal shard, or sliver of wood discovers its unique place, contributing to an emotionally charged entirety.” 

206L Heartwood, Gyöngy Laky, ash branches, acrylic paint, screws, 48″ x 48″ x 3″, 2025.  Photo by Tom Grotta

Heartwood by Gyöngy Laky (US) was next. Laky explained the origins of the work and its name: “In 2005, I paused in awe before a majestic Ash Tree in front of Customwood Furniture in San Francisco—founded in 1946 by the renowned designer Arthur Hanna. I met Arthur and a delightful friendship ensued. Whenever the Ash was pruned, his trimmer would deliver a great pile of beautiful Ash cuttings. The Tree is still there though Arthur is not. While working with Ash on a recent piece, I found myself continually sensing the nodes and branches as suggestive of human anatomy. One day, my friend and neighbor, architect Teri Behm, walked into my studio and anticipated my title, Heartwood, when she remarked, “Those pieces look like parts of a heart.”

Floating Upstream, Marianne Kemp
13mke Floating Upstream, Marianne Kemp, cotton, horsehair, wood, 47.25” x 55” x 4”, 2023. Photo by Tom Grotta

In Floating Upstream, Marianne Kemp (NL) explores how horizontal and vertical reference lines fade into the background, when coupled with random knotting of horsehair, which shifts the viewer’s focus. The interplay of overlapping textures and translucency is key to softening the otherwise bold composition. The single, straight, horizontal line, formed by the wooden dowel, brings balance to the piece. Kemp’s work is deeply influenced by her travels. Her explorations across Europe, and to places such as Mexico, Japan, Africa, and Mongolia, have further enriched her artistic vocabulary. 

Rooted 4, Naoko Serino
27ns Rooted 4, Naoko Serino, jute, 5.5″ x 8″ x 8″, 2025. Photo by Tom Grotta

Last but not at all least, we focused on Naoko Serino’s Rooted 4. “I have been creating artworks using only jute for 28 years,” Serino (JP) says. She is grateful to be able to convey the charm of jute, which she does in three-dimensional expressions that incorporate light and air. “Life and nature are constantly changing, and every moment holds its own significance. An invisible force stimulates me, and the memories it awakens inspire my artworks. I pour my feelings into my artworks, allowing them to speak through the material.”

Enjoy the recap!

Books Make Great Gifts Part 2

December 18, 2024 0 Comment
Wendy Wahl horsehair calligraphy
Equine Calligraphy, Wendy Wahl, horsehair, 2021. Photo by Wendy Wahl

Wendy Wahl had two 2024 book recommendations to share. “Many years ago, while at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, I discovered Mysteries of the Alphabet by Marc-Alain Ouaknin (Abbeville Press, 1999).

Mysteries of the Alphabet and Asemic The Art of Writing

I was as interested then as I am today in the world of alphabets and their origins. This compact book is a compilation of signs, symbols, and pictograms that have been a part of the evolution of letters and their meaning over the past 3,500 years.” In 2021, Wahl made a piece called Equine Calligraphy, composed of hand-gathered and manipulated horsehair stitched to paper with strands of the same hair. She found a category for this kind of work when she came across Asemic: The Art of Writing by Peter Schwenger. The book is a survey of contemporary asemic writing and its place between art and recognizable script. [Cliff Notes version — asemic means writing without language.] The book was ecstatically reviewed: “vital and fateful;” “engaging and groundbreaking.” https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/asemic-writing-peter-schwenger-cy-twombly-roland-barthes-1202688046/.

Wendy Wahl with horsehair donor
Wahl and one of the furry donators to Equine Calligraphy

“I was excited to realize that browngrotta arts’ artist Marian Bijlenga‘s artwork was used for the book’s cover,” Wahl wrote. browngrotta arts carries a book by Bijlenga, Written Weed, containing collages by the artist made of dried leaves, grasses, and seeds. The images are like handwriting, Chinese characters, the letters of an alphabet.

Written Weed by Marian Bijlenga
Book #43, Written Weed, by Marian Bijlenga. Photo by Tom Grotta

Gyöngy Laky is another artist who is interested in alphabets and messaging without recognizable forms as in the work Notes to Self. Author David Roth, says “her use of language is decidedly postmodern, seen in how she presents symbols and signs as inherently porous and unstable, subject to all the forces that influence perception and thought.” 

Notes to self by Gyöngy Laky
119L Notes to Self, Gyöngy Laky, wood and paint, 29.5” x 21.5”, 2012. Photo by Tom Grotta

(“The Architecture of Thought,” David M. Roth, in Gyöngy Laky, Screwing with Order: assembled art, actions and creative practice, arnoldsche, 2022).

Heidrun Schimmel creates  “pages” of stitches that appear to be writing, but are not.

Text/textile/texture by Heidrun Schimmel
30hsc Was du Weiß auf Schwarz Besitzt (text/textile/texture), Heidrun Schimmel, cotton and silk,
47.5” x 49.5” each, 2009. Photo by Tom Grotta


Caroline Bartlett has explored text/nontext works, too. 

Woven book by Caroline Bartlett
3cb Overwritings VI, Caroline Bartlett, canvas, silk, platered fabric, cotton thread and pins, 13.25″ x 18.625″, 3.5″, 1998. Photo by Tom Grotta

These books and artworks offer novel ways to explore how art, words and communication combine.

50-Year Lookback: Fiberworks, a 70s Creative Hub in Berkeley, California 

December 4, 2024 0 Comment
Fireworks newsletter
Researching Fiberworks at the Archives of American Art in Washington, DC 2024. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Five decades ago, Fiberworks in Berkeley, California, was a vibrant cultural hub that played a significant role in the burgeoning arts scene of the early 1970s. Situated in the heart of one of the nation’s most politically and artistically dynamic cities, Fiberworks became a space where fiber art, design, and social change intersected. 

Gyongy Laky at Fireworks
Gyöngy Laky at Fiberworks, Center for the Textile Arts, 1974 ; Chere Lai Mah, Donna Nomura Dobkin, Gyöngy Laky, Donna Larsen, Nance O’Banion, and others at Fiberworks, 1974, Gyöngy Laky papers, 1912-2007, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Photos Thomas C. Layton 

Founded in 1973 by Hungarian-born environmental sculptor, Gyöngy Laky, who served as its Director through 1977, Fiberworks was an internationally recognized art center, instrumental in redefining textile arts through the late 80s. The Fiberworks Gallery showcased textile art at a time when commercial galleries and museums gave it scant exposure. In 1975, the name was changed to Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts, reflecting the increasing range of activities that included lectures, special events, international bazaars, and services for artists, together with a sweeping array of classes. The dynamism of creativity in Berkeley prompted internationally known textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen to refer to the Bay Area as “The Vatican” of this new movement in the arts. 

Mija Riedel, who has researched Fiberworks’ history, notes that the nonprofit organization’s influence during its 15-year existence far exceeded its modest means. By the early 70s, Riedel explains, the San Francisco Bay Area was a rich and established focal point for textile art. Trude Guermonprez, a transplant from Black Mountain College, headed the Crafts department at California College of the Arts in Oakland. Kay Sekimachi, a student of Guermonprez, had gained recognition for her series of complex three-dimensional monofilament hangings. Katherine Westphal was a professor at UC in Davis. Ruth Asawa’s iconic wire sculptures – made with a technique learned from basket weavers in Toluca, Mexico – were the subject of a 1973 retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Ed Rossbach’s teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, had influenced Laky and other Fiberworks’ artists. His experimental approach inspired a new generation of artists to explore new ways of working with what, up to that time, had been utilitarian materials. Artists explored unconventional uses of fibers like synthetic materials, found objects, and even recycled textiles, challenging the boundaries between art and craft. As Riedel observes, Fiberworks drew on this community of artists and their energy, ingenuity and inventiveness. (Mija Riedel, unpublished research, cited in Gyöngy Laky: Screwing With Order, assembled art, actions and creative practice, 2022, pp. 32.) In our research at the Archives of American Art in DC in May, we were stuck by the long list of artists who taught at Fiberworks including Kay Sekimachi, Adela Akers, Daniel Graffin, and Katherine Westphal. The Center became accredited and eventually offered degree programs.

Magdalena Abakanowicz and Sheila Hicks speaking at Fiberworks
Magdalena Abakanowicz and Sheila Hicks speaking at Fiberworks’ Symposium on Contemporary Textile Art,1978. Photos Elaine Keenan 

Fiberworks’ reputation extended well beyond California and the US, notes Riedel. Some of the world’s most-celebrated fiber artists, including Sheila Hicks, Ritzi and Peter Jacobi, and Magdelena Abakanowicz, participated in Fiberworks’ programs. The Center’s international impact was affirmed when Fiberworks organized and hosted the Symposium on Contemporary Textile Art in 1978 and 500 participants from eight countries participated. The Symposium’s broad attendance, which included Helena Hernmarck, Walter Nottingham, and Nance O’Banion, “[bore] witness to the widespread interest in the new textile art.” (Giselle Eberhard Cotton and Magali Junet, From Tapestry to Fiber Art: Lausanne Biennials 1962-95, (Skira, Milan, Italy, 2017), p. 78.) Recognition and visibility for Fiberworks’ faculty, lecturers, exhibitors, and students also grew. In 1975, both Laky and Lia Cook would be selected to produce large, commissioned works for the federal Art-in-Architecture Program. (Riedel, pp. 33-34.)

“Fiberworks had a major impact on me, my art, and my life, and I think maybe on the teacher I am today,” Laky told interviewer Harriet Nathan in 1998(Gyöngy Laky: Fiber Art: Visual Thinking and the Intelligent Hand, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California, 2003. An oral history conducted by Harriet Nathan, University of California. Interviews conducted in 1998–1999 (Bancroft Library Oral History), pp. 116-117). “There was a lot of exchange and learning. One of the things that I got from that experience, that early experience, was to give openly, not to secretly guard my ideas. People did not secretly guard their ideas, they didn t think, ‘Oh, this is my special way of working, I m not going to show it to anyone.’ The moment somebody came up with something that was working and exciting, that artist could hardly wait to do a class or demonstration to show everyone: ‘Here I just invented something, come look, let me teach you, let me show you.’ Wonderful spirit in that regard …. The moment people figured out some strange way of braiding or a different way of presenting a performance, whatever it was, it was given and out. The feeling was that there were so many ideas following behind that you didn’t have to guard your precious inventions or discoveries, that good ideas, creative ideas were limitless and there would be many more to come.”

Episodes in Textile Thinking
Episodes in Textile Thinking, 1983. Installation in Fiberworks Gallery, Berkeley, CA. Photo from: Gyöngy Laky: Fiber Art: Visual Thinking and the Intelligent Hand, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California, 2003

The experimentation Rossbach encouraged in his classes at UC Berkeley evolved at the Center, into a wide-ranging exploration of site-specific, installation, performative, and non-traditional approaches, according to Riedel. Chere Lai Mah, a key member of Fiberworks’ nucleus, characterized that spirit of inventiveness as it had influenced her artwork in a statement for the exhibition, FIBERWORKS 1976, as “spontaneity, flexibility, spaces, change, impermanence, simplicity, actions, shadows, lines, throwaways, and the relationship of ideas and forms to their beginnings, becomings and endings.”(FIBERWORKS 1976 exhibition at the Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco, California, coordinated by Louise Allrich.) In reviewing the FIBERWORKS 1976 exhibition, critic Alan Meisel noted, “The explosive newness of the works… sparkles….” (Alan Meisel, “Bay Area Fiber Art,” Artweek, October 9, 1976.)

In 2023, to celebrate Fiberworks’ illustrious 50-year anniversary, a group of former students and staff, including Julie Anixter, Gyongy Laky, Lia Cook, Donna Larsen, Janet Boguch, Chere Lai Mah, Susan Wick, Pat Hickman, and Debra Rapoport intiated a series of commemorative activities. There is a Wikipedia page, a Berkeley Historical site, records in the Archives of American Art. There have also been virtual presentations discussing Fiberworks and its influence, and the influence of Katherine Westphal and Ed Rossbach. The presentation about Ed Rossbach can be viewed online. It includes Tom Grotta’s images and commentary about Rossbach’s long association with browngrotta arts. More of the presentations will be made available online at a later date.

Enjoy!

Opening in One Month – Discourse Offers Myriad Views of Contemporary Fiber Art

April 4, 2024 0 Comment

Fiber is having a moment — exhibitions of art textiles and fiber art are installed all over the world.  Having promoted this medium for more than 30 years, browngrotta arts couldn’t be more pleased. We represent the work of an extraordinary group of artists — from fiber art’s origins in the 50s and 60s, to those whose careers started many years later. Our Spring Art in the Barn exhibition, Discourse: art across generations and continents, is designed to celebrate this multiplicity of makers and methods. Open at browngrotta arts in Wilton, Connecticut, from Saturday, May 4th through Sunday, May 12, 2024, Discourse will assemble a large and eclectic group of artworks that celebrate artists from different countries, who work with varied materials, and represent distinct artistic approaches. More than 50 artists from 18 countries will be featured. Included will be current works from 60 years ago, current mixed media works and sculpture, and pieces created in the decades between — enabling an intriguing look at intergenerational differences, material breakthroughs, and historical significance in fiber art.

The comparisons and contrasts on view in Discourse involve differing approaches to structure, materials, abstraction, messaging, techniques and more. Viewers are encouraged to develop and refine their own perspectives of contemporary fiber’s evolution and energy.

Exploring Bamboo

Exploring Bamboo, Baskets by Nancy Moore Bess, Hisako Sekimachi, Noriko Tanikawa. photos by Tom Grotta

The artists in Discourse each possess “material intelligence,” what author and curator Glenn Adamson describes as “a deep understanding of the material world around us, an ability to read that material environment, and the know-how required to give it new form.” They take a disparate approach to materials such as bamboo, rendered differently by Hisako Sekijima (JP), Nancy Moore Bess (US), and Noriko Tanikawa (JP)

Exploring Horsehair
Exploring horsehair details of works by Adela Akers, Marian Bijlenga, Marianne Kemp. photos by Tom Grotta

Three artists, Marianne Kemp (NL), Adela Akers (US) and Marian Bijlenga (NL) work with horsehair, each with differing results.

Paperworks six ways
Paperworks six ways: Shoko Fukuda, Wendy Wahl, Patricia Campbell, Jane Balsgaard, Neda Al-Hilali, Mary Merkel-Hess. photos by Tom Grotta

Paper is perhaps the most mutable material in the exhibition. Paper cord, book pages, and rice paper used by Shoko Fukuda (JP), Mary Merkel-Hess (US), Naomi Kobayashi (JP), Pat Campbell (US), Eva Vargö (SE), Neda Al-Hilali (US), Jane Balsgaard (DE), and Wendy Wahl (US) are among the material variations found in Discourse.

Exploring Sculpture
Exploring structure, details of works by Norma Minkowitz, John McQueen, Norie Hatekayama. photos by Tom Grotta

Engaging structures are also featured in Discourse. Intricate sculptures of willow twigs by John McQueen, ethereal objects of jute by Naoko Serino, sinuous crocheted works by Norma Minkowitz (US), and Norie Hatekayama’s inexplicable forms of plaited paper tape illustrate the multiple ways in which artists continue to innovate in this medium.

Abstract tapestries
Abstraction, tapestries by Blair Tate, Gudrun Pagter, Warren Seelig. photos by Tom Grotta

Much has been made this year about the contributions of weaving and related techniques to abstraction, modernism’s preeminent art form. Witness Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. and  Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, which aims to offer new insights into the emergence of abstract imagery. Specifically, the Met’s exhibition sets out to illustrate how the constructive nature of weavings, arising from the grid formed by the vertical and horizontal elements of the loom, prompted the formal investigation of geometric designs. There are several examples in Discourse, works by Warren Seelig from the 70s and 80s, and works from Blair Tate (US) and Gudrun Pagter (DK) created 50 years later.

Differing Sensibilities
Differing Sensibilities, tapestries by Zofia Butrymowicz, Michael Radyk, Lia Cook. photos by Tom Grotta

The evolution of contemporary fiber art can be seen in works from Eastern Europe and those from Western Europe and the US. One of the oldest works in the exhibition is a heavily textured wool-and-linen weaving, Słońce Szafirowe, (Sapphire Sun), by Polish weaver Zofia Butrymowicz from 1968 which was featured in Beyond Weaving: the art fabric, by Jack Lenor Larsen and Mildred Constantine which provides an interesting contrast to Jacquard tapestries of wool and cotton by Americans Lia Cook and Michael Radyk.

Messenging Four ways
Messenging Four ways, details of works by Irina Kolesnikova, Laura Foster Nicholson, Gyöngy Laky, James Bassler. photos by Tom Grotta

Some of the artists in Discourse, including Laura Foster Nicholson (US) Gyöngy Laky (US), James Bassler (US), and Irina Kolesnikova (RU/DE), use the medium of fiber art to make explicit statements about the modern world — about personal anxieties, human interaction and our impact on the environment. Gyöngy Laky’s (US) work, Anticipation, which spells out the word “Who?“ in applewood branches, presents a question. “Given the challenges, concerns, conflicts and other dangers we face today,” Laky says, “this question, underlies the search for a way forward to a better day.”  Laura Foster Nicholson’s (US) woven landscapes, idyllic at first glance reveal a concern with the natural world. “In recent years,” the artist says, “my work has moved toward recording the various ways humankind has interfered in the environment.” Through Spectator, Irina Kolesnikova (RU/DE) shares the anxiety of daily life. She presents a man, her alter ego, in a variety of discomfiting scenarios. In This Old House, Jim Bassler references the book Caste, which describes America as an old house, with the caste system wrought by slavery as central to its operation as are studs and joints. Bassler’s flag is patterned with wax resist and a multitude of woven elements “that could represent the textile talents of the Africans who arrived in Virginia in 1619 and who were forced into slavery thus giving up their identity and culture.”

In sum, Discourse offers no end of ideas and innovations. We invite you to draw comparisons and gain new perspectives of your own. See you in May!

Exhibition Details:
Discourse: art across generations and continents
May 4 – May 12, 2024
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897

Gallery Dates/Hours:
Saturday, May 4th: 11am to 6pm [Opening & Artist Reception]
Sunday, May 5th: 11am to 6pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Monday, May 6th through Saturday, May 11th: 10am to 5pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Sunday, May 12th: 11am to 6pm [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)
Schedule your visit at POSH.

Safety protocols: 
POSH reservations strongly encouraged • No narrow heels please 

Catalog:
A full-color catalog, browngrotta arts’ 59th, Discourse: art across generations and continents, with an essay by Erika Diamond, Artist | Curator | Associate Director of CVA Galleries | Chautauqua Institution, will be published by the browngrotta arts in May 2024 in conjunction with the exhibition.

A Pop-Up is a Good Op

March 6, 2024 0 Comment
Two Vermettes, Two offices
Claude Vermette’s water color Maligne Lake, 1979 and Mariette Rousseau-Vermette’s tapestry Electricity/Energy, 1994. Photo by Tom Grotta

If Wikipedia is to be believed, Pop-Up art exhibitions began in 2007 in New York City. They now occur all over they world. Pop-ups are generally temporary events, less formal than a gallery or a museum, often using unusual spaces. Their popularity has boomed since the oughts, including Banksy’s Dismaland which collected work by 58 artists in a rundown seaside town in the UK in 2015, Yasoi Kusama’s room that exploded with flowers in Melbourne, Australia in 2018, the Museum of Ice Cream (not technically a museum) currently in several locations including Miami, Boston and Singapore, and The Color Factory in New York City, Houston, and Chicago. Pop-Ups are often immersive, interactive, and collaborative like Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, which began in 2008 as a small collective of artists sharing an interest in publicly displaying their works and developing their skills. Meow Wolf now aims to “redefine the paradigm of art and storytelling to make a positive difference in the world.”

Out of Focus Series by Grethe Sørensen
White Shell Tongue I & II, 2006 prints by Federica Luzzi and Out of Focus tapestries by Grethe Sørensen, 2007. Photo by Tom Grotta

Fast forward to 2024: browngrotta arts has its own Pop-Up of sorts at JUICE Creative Group in Norwalk, CT. JUICE handles our social media, website development, event planning and other miscellany. It has loads of clients coming into its business and rental studio space each week. Now, select Juice visitors are able to view (and acquire) JUICE Art, a specially assembled group of works from artists who work with browngrotta arts.

Warren Seelig installation
Warren Seelig’s White Wheel, 1996 and Small Double Ended, 1996. Photo by Tom Grotta

In curating the collection, we were mindful of the JUICE ethos. It’s a brand and digital agency based in the US, with team members all over the world. JUICE takes pride in the team of brand experts, designers, marketers and tech geeks it’s built, and the vibrant creative culture it has fostered. To reflect that creativity and energy, we suggested works like Grethe Sorensen’s Out of Focus that references pixels from printing, Warren Seelig’s mechanical sculptures, Small Double-Ended and White Wheel, Gyöngy Laky’s playful Beach Sketch, made of electrical tape wrapped branches and Electricity/Energy by Mariette Rousseau-Vermette, a tapestry that incorporates wire.

Sekiji, Laky and Seelig in the corner office
From left to right works by Toshio Sekiji, NYT Collage, 1997, Gyöngy Laky, Beach Sketch, 1987, Warren Seelig, Shadowfield/ Colored Light Single, 2017. Photo by Tom Grotta

Printed pages are another theme; the agency produces a lot of textual content. There are collages made of books and newspapers by Toshio Sekiji; works by Wendy Wahl of encyclopedia pages, and an interesting work by Mercedes Vicente that mixes string and spiral notebook pages and “hints” at writing. Photography, too, was a theme. In a room clients use, we placed a textile triptych made of photo images of Japanese tile roofs that are fragmented, silk screened, and metal-leafed made by Glen Kaufman along with works of paper by Gizella Warburton. On a floor of offices, there are photographs of fiber sculptures by Federica Luzzi, White Shell Tongue 1 and 2 beside a graphic tapestry by Gudrun Pagter.

John McQueen in the conference room
In the conference room, Intimate Domain, 2019 by John McQueen

In deciding what to display, we also collaborated with the JUICE team, including some works by artists they chose. John McQueen is a favorite of several team members. We included Intimate Domain, which includes a tree made of repurposed plastic surrounded by a frame made of small branches and cable ties and also Treed, a depiction of a tree where the drawing creeps off the page an onto the frame. Another popular artist was Canadian painter and ceramist Claude Vermette. There are two of his large canvases, one triptych and one small water color hung throughout the space. Also on the team’s list, works by Keiji Nio, Jo Barker, Dorothy Gill Barnes, Jiro Yonezawa, Chiyoko Tanaka and Jennifer Falck Linssen.

Claude Vermette and Gudren Pageter
Claude Vermette. Clairière, 1992 painting, Gudren Pagter, Thin Green Line , 2017 tapestry, Toshio Sekiji, Black Collage, 1998. Photo by Tom Grotta

For us, a Pop-Up is a Good Op. The JUICE space looks better, clients and staff appreciate the work, and we get more eyeballs for some great works of art!

Save the Date: browngrotta arts Spring Art in the Barn

February 14, 2024 0 Comment

We’ve spent the first weeks of 2024 summing up 2023 and looking at this year’s trends in art and design. Now we’ve got a more concrete prediction — our Spring Art in the Barn exhibition will run from Saturday, May 4 through Sunday, May 12, 2024. Discourse: art across generations and continents will explore the diversity in art textiles and fiber sculpture.

Blair Tate, Warren Seelig header
Details of tapestries by Blair Tate made in 2022 and Warren Seelig made more than 40 years earlier in 1976. Photo by Tom Grotta.

In Discourse, browngrotta arts will assemble a large and eclectic group of artworks that celebrate artists from different countries, who work with varied materials, and represent distinct artistic approaches. More than 50 artists from 20 countries will be featured.Included will be works from the art form’s origins 60 years ago, current mixed media works and sculpture, and pieces created in the decades between — enabling an intriguing look at intergenerational differences, material breakthroughs, and historical significance in fiber art.

Details: John McQueen, Norma Minkowitz, Norie Hatekayama
Details: John McQueen, Norma Minkowitz, Norie Hatekayama. Photo by Tom Grotta.

structural explorations
Despite their distinctiveness, the artists in Discourse share a common trait. Each possesses “material intelligence,” what author Glenn Adamson describes as “a deep understanding of the material world around us, an ability to read that material environment, and the know-how required to give it new form.” The works in Discourse reflect this mastery. Artists like John McQueen and Norma Minkowitz of the US and Norie Hatekayama and Naoko Serino of Japan engineer imaginative structures of unexpected materials — plaited paper tape, molded jute, crocheted linen, and pieced twigs and branches. 

Details: Gudrun Pagter, Warren Seelig, Blair Tate
Details: Gudrun Pagter, Warren Seelig, Blair Tate. Photos by Tom Grotta

fiber art … an evolution
Discourse also offers viewers a chance to make intergenerational and cross-continental comparisons. Included will be starkly graphic weavings by Warren Seelig (US) made in the 70s and 80s, and ones by Gudrun Pagter (DK), and Blair Tate (US) made 40+ years later. We have often observed a different sensibility among artists from Eastern Europe and those in Western Europe, Asia, and the US. Artists in Eastern Europe have a history, which began after World War II, of using items at hand to create works – sisal, rope, hemp, goat hair. A fierce energy is seen in these works; they are rugged and raw. By contrast, for artists who worked elsewhere in more traditional tapestry materials like wool, silk, linen – quietly refined works were often the result. Discourse will spotlight such regional contrasts. 

Details: Marian Bijlenga, Shoko Fukuda, Marianne Kemp
Details: Marian Bijlenga, Shoko Fukuda, Marianne Kemp. Photo by Tom Grotta.

material matters
Viewers to Discourse will also see a wide range of to material and technique approaches. Several artists make vastly different uses of paper — scrolling of encyclopedia pages by Wendy Wahl (US), knotted paper objects by Shoko Fukuda (JP), and sculptural works of rice paper by Pat Campbell (US). Three other artists, Adela Akers (US), Marianne Kemp (NL), and Marian Bijlenga (NL), use horsehair in vastly different ways. 

Details: Laura Foster Nicholson, Irina Kolesnikova, Anneke Klein
Details: Laura Foster Nicholson, Irina Kolesnikova, Anneke Klein. Photos by Tom Grotta.

the medium is the message
Some of the artists in Discourse, including Laura Foster Nicholson (US) Gyöngy Laky (US), and Irina Kolesnikova (RU/DE), use the medium of fiber art to make explicit statements about the modern world — about personal anxiety, communication, and humans’ impact on the environment. “I like to tease the brain – to promote or even provoke or cajole, a visual dialogue with the viewer,” says Gyöngy Laky (US). Her work, Anticipation, which spells out the word “Who?“ in applewood branches, presents a question. “Given the challenges, concerns, conflicts and other dangers we face today,” Laky says, “this question, underlies the search for a way forward to a better day.” Anneke Klein (NL) is interested in communication: In Dialogue — Her work is made up of two layers that hang, one in front of the other. When you change your position in front of Dialogue, the interaction between the two layers changes, as it does between two speakers.

Detail: Lia Cook
Detail: Lia Cook. Photo by Tom Grotta.

experiments in technique
Contemporary fiber art is by definition experimental. It arose when a group of artists used tapestry techniques to create abstract sculptures that hung off the wall. A work of parallel optical lines from studies Lia Cook (US) did for her master’s thesis in the 1970s will be included along with works reflecting Neha Puri Dhir’s (IN) currrent experiments dying silk and baskets by Esmé Hofman (NL) of black willow and elm that also incorporate color.

Detail: Aby Mackie
Detail: Aby Mackie. Photo by Tom Grotta.

fiber art has emotional appeal
Fiber art — art textiles, tapestries, and three-dimensional sculpture — engages us on a deeply personal level. Our first memories are of cloth, fuzzy blankets, soft towels and they remain strong ones. Scientists have shown that different parts of the brain light up when we look at a woven image and a photographic image of the same item. Aby Mackie (SP) sources and recycles used fabrics from flea markets, fabrics laden with memory. She is captivated by these silent witnesses to a life lived; a worn bed sheet, a stained tablecloth, a moth-eaten gown. Such artifacts bear the marks and physicality of human nature, possessing a poetic power. She gilds this repurposed material in works like We Can All Be Saved, leaving viewers to consider what creates value.

We invite you to draw comparisons and gain new perspectives of your own. See you in May!

Exhibition Details:
Discourse: art across generations and continents
May 4 – May 12, 2024
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897

Gallery Dates/Hours:
Saturday, May 4th: 11am to 6pm [Opening & Artist Reception]
Sunday, May 5th: 11am to 6pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Monday, May 6th through Saturday, May 11th: 10am to 5pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Sunday, May 12th: 11am to 6pm [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)
Schedule your visit at POSH

Safety protocols: 
POSH reservations strongly encouraged • No narrow heels please 

Catalog:
A full-color catalog, browngrotta arts’ 59th, Discourse: art across generations and continents, will be published by the gallery in conjunction with the exhibition.

Art Assembled – New This Week in October

November 2, 2023 0 Comment

As October comes to a close, we take a moment to reflect on the incredible artists and their works that have graced our New This Week series throughout the month. Our spotlight shone brightly on the creative minds of Tim Johnson, Gyöngy Laky, Glen Kaufman, Stéphanie Jacques, and Dona Look. Their unique talents and innovative approaches to art have left a lasting impression on our community.

But, that’s not all that October brought to browngrotta arts. We proudly launched the much-anticipated Vignettes exhibition, a harmonious fusion of three distinct showcases. Our in-person exhibition opened its doors, allowing art enthusiasts to experience the masterful craftsmanship of wood sculptor Dorothy Gill Barnes, the visionary weaving and surface design of Glen Kaufman, and the captivating diversity of An Abundance of Objects, featuring an array of baskets, ceramics, and sculptures crafted by over three dozen talented artists.

As we bid farewell to October, we invite you to join us in revisiting the highlights from our New This Week features and to explore the rich tapestry of Vignettes, now viewable on our website. At browngrotta arts, art and creativity continue to converge in a breathtaking display of talent and inspiration.

Tim Johnson
22tj Wall Pocket, Tim Johnson, willow skein, earth pigments, split chestnut and tarred
hemp twine, 20” x 10” x 6”, 2023. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Welcome to another edition of our New This Week series, where we embark on a journey through the world of contemporary art, one artist at a time. To kick off the month of October, we delve into the captivating creations of Tim Johnson, a skilled artist and basketmaker hailing from the United Kingdom.

With a rich history spanning nearly three decades, Tim Johnson has dedicated himself to exploring the intricate relationships between materials, place, nature, and culture. His artistic voyage is a fusion of traditional craftsmanship and innovative techniques, influenced by his extensive travels across the globe.

What sets Tim Johnson apart is his ability to breathe new life into humble materials and age-old practices. He blurs the lines between art and craft, inviting us to reconsider how we perceive both. Notably, you can find his work showcased in the current online version of the Vignettes exhibition at browngrotta arts, a testament to his lasting impact on the world of contemporary art.

Gyöngy Laky
48L.1 Beach Sketch, Gyöngy Laky, twigs, wire, plastic, cloth, 57″ x 50″ x 6″, 1987. Photo by Tom Grotta.

As we look back on our features throughout October, it’s clear that Gyöngy Laky is a remarkable artist who has left an indelible mark on the world of sculpture. Her ability to blend tradition and innovation, creating sculptures that transcend boundaries, is nothing short of inspiring.

Laky’s influence extends far and wide, with her works featured in exhibitions spanning continents. Her early recognition for her linear sculptures, rooted in the architectural techniques of textile arts, marked the beginning of a remarkable career. Beyond gallery spaces, she has ventured into the realm of site-specific outdoor installations and contributed to land art projects in various corners of the globe, showcasing her adaptability and creativity.

We’re thrilled to have shared her captivating artwork with you this past month, and we invite you to explore more of her work, including her presence in the Vignettes exhibition, online November 22.

Glen Kaufman
152-155gk Istana/Seri Menanti, Glen Kaufman, yarn-dyed silk stripe, copper, 28.75″ x 47.5″, 1998. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Up next, we were privileged to feature the remarkable works of the late, renowned artist Glen Kaufman. Kaufman’s artistic legacy, spanning over four remarkable decades, left an indelible mark on the world of art.

Kaufman’s artistic odyssey began with a foundation in textural weaving and macramé, setting the stage for a lifelong pursuit of creative discovery. His restless spirit and boundless imagination led him to traverse uncharted territories in the realm of surface design. With a fusion of traditional techniques and contemporary sensibilities, he crafted sculptural forms that challenged the boundaries of artistic expression.

In the later stages of his career, Kaufman’s work underwent a transformation, reflecting a profound connection with Japanese aesthetics and architecture. His pieces, adorned with intricate photo collages and the application of gold and silver leaf, demonstrated a deep appreciation for the beauty of Japan’s artistic heritage.

As we celebrated Kaufman’s contributions this past month, we were reminded that true artistry transcends the constraints of time and place. We’re honored to continue his legacy by featuring his artistry in our ongoing Vignettes exhibition, where his works continue to inspire and captivate.

Stéphanie Jacques
4-5-20sj Paniers-liens II-IV, Stéphanie Jacques, 60″ x 20.5″ x 16″ (22″ x 17.25″ x 17.25″; 43.25″ x 15.5″ x 17.75″; 60″ x 20.5″ x 16″), 2011. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Continuing our artistic journey through October, we cast our spotlight on Stéphanie Jacques, an artist whose work revolves around the art of connection. Jacques’s unique approach centers on weaving together elements that seemingly exist on opposite ends of the spectrum: hard and soft, old and new, valuable and trivial, conscious and unconscious, human and plant.

Her chosen mediums include wood, wicker, and clay, each one a canvas for her imaginative exploration. Basketry, cutting, and intricate assembly serve as both her tools and her muse, propelling her to discover novel solutions to age-old questions.

With each sculpture and installation, she delves deeper into the notion of connection, weaving together the threads of life in her own unique way. And yes, you’ll also find her work thoughtfully showcased in our ongoing Vignettes exhibition, a testament to her exceptional talent and boundless creativity.

Dona Look
12dl Basket #84, Dona Look, white birch bark and waxed silk thread, 8″ x 7″ x 7″, 1984

And last, but certainly not least, we highlighted the work of artist Dona Look. Look is a skilled basket maker from the beautiful landscapes of Wisconsin. Look’s art is deeply connected to the nature that surrounds her. She starts her creative process by gathering bark from the region’s birch trees. With this simple yet extraordinary material, she weaves intricate baskets, capturing the essence of the woodlands in her craft. To hold everything together, she uses silk thread, turning these natural elements into stunning works of art.

We were delighted to feature this talented artist’s work in the ongoing Vignettes exhibition, where her creations shine alongside those of other exceptional artists.

October has been more than just a showcase of talent; it’s been a month of expansion and connection. The launch of our Vignettes exhibition, both in-person and online, has allowed us to bridge physical and digital spaces, bringing art enthusiasts closer to the remarkable works of Dorothy Gill Barnes, Glen Kaufman, and a myriad of other gifted artists. If you want to learn more about the artists and artwork in Vignettes: one venue; three exhibitions, join our Zoom presentation on November 17 at 7 pm EST: Art on the Rocks: an exhibition talkthrough with spirits!

As we bid farewell to this month, we extend our gratitude to our dedicated community of artists, collectors, and art lovers. We look forward to seeing what November brings!

Face Forward: Exhibition Portraits

June 15, 2023 0 Comment

Tom Grotta’s passion since beginning to represent artists in art textiles and fiber sculpture has been to effectively present the work in photographs. With artwork, he aims to highlight the haptic quality of work made by hand and give viewers a sense of each work’s scale and presence. His portraits of artists often show them at work and give people a glimpse of their practice and passion. As a result, browngrotta arts receives regular requests to share Tom’s photographs for books and articles including Fiber: 1960 to the Present; Golden State of Craft; Tapestry: A Woven Narrative and The New York Times, Interior Design, selvedge; and FT: How to Spend It. He also gets requests to use his portraits in exhibitions — and we use them ourselves for that purpose. It’s always a thrill to see them blown up. In this post will share some of those with you.

Works by Toshiko Takaezu; portrait of Toshiko Takaezu by Tom Grotta at This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC. Photo by Ted Rowland.

Last year, ceramist Toshiko Takaezu’s work was highlighted in a gallery space in This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC (at the same time her work was on exhibit at the Venice Biennial). Takaezu’s works were displayed aside a large portrait taken by Tom Grotta.

Portrait of Ethel Stein in front of her portrait at Ethel Stein: Master Weaver at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Tom Grotta.

In 2014, we were thrilled to go to Chicago to attend the opening of Ethel Stein: Master Weaver, a one-person retrospective for Ethel Stein, then 96. She has been steadfastly “counter-trend,” as textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen observed, creating squares of quiet pattern to be placed on walls at a time when other textile artists were emphasizing the sculptural potential of fiber by working in three dimensions. Produced on a drawloom—a type of handloom that incorporates a figure harness capable of controlling each warp thread separately—her work seems deceptively simple, but as one understands the mysteries and complexities of this weaving method historically favored for creating figured textiles, the sophistication and challenge of her work become undeniable. The drawloom was donated to the Art Institute, as well — The exhibition included 38 of the artists works and a large version of Tom’s portrait. The portrait graced the cover of our catalog, Ethel Stein: Weaver, which was sold in the Art Institute’s bookstore.

Portrait of Ed Rossbach in Ed Rossbach: Quiet Revolutionary at SOFA, Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Tom Grotta.

In 2004, browngrotta arts co-sponsored Ed Rossbach: Quiet Revolutionary, with LongHouse Reserve at the SOFA exhibition in Chicago. A diverse grouping of Rossbach’s works was included.  The exhibition had been organized first at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Michigan and then traveled to LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, New York.

Portrait of Judy Mulford at SOFA in front of the portrait in the special exhibition,  Judy Mulford: 80 Chairs. The portrait is of Mulford in her California studio. Photo by Tom Grotta.

At SOFA Chicago in 2017, we presented Judy Mulford’s 80 Empty Chairs. The installation featured a central sculpture entitled “What now?” she said. “What now?…What now?…What now?…” surrounded by 80 individually rendered chairs in frames. The intimate and emotional sculpture chronicles domestic life. The dollhouse chairs, dolls, buttons and embellishments used in the work were collected by the artist from family members, flea markets, antique stores and friends. Mulford spent a year on the work, which marked her then-upcoming 80th birthday. She also produced a limited-edition book, 80 Empty Chairs, as a part of this project.

Portraits of Gyöngy Laky and John McQueen in their respective studios at WordPlay: Messages in Bark & Branch at the Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Library, Connecticut. Photos by Tom Grotta.

Most recently, this May, Tom’s portraits of Gyöngy Laky and John McQueen welcomed visitors to WordPlay: Messages in Bark & Branch at the Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Library, Connecticut. These portraits are among the several dozen Tom has taken in as part of what we call our studio visit project. We have been to California, Ohio, New York, the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands photographing artists. We hope to create more of these images to share with you.

Art Out and About: In the US and Abroad

March 15, 2023 0 Comment

So many exhibitions to visit this Spring from Sweden, Australia and the UK to California, Washington and New York — and two in Connecticut. Check them out.

Beauty and the Unexpected
Modern and Contemporary American Crafts
National Museum
Södra Blasieholmshamnen 2
Stockholm, Sweden
March 30, 2023 – January 21, 2024

Gyöngy Laky Incident
Incident, Gyöngy Laky, from Beauty and the Unexpected exhibition in Stockholm, Natural and commercial wood, paint,
bullets for building (screws), 50” x 50” x 4.5”, 2012. Photo by Tom Grotta

National Museum has invited Helen W. Drutt English, pioneering craft educator and gallerist of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts since the 1960s, to assemble a collection of objects drawn from the field of “American Crafts.” The selection of 81 works from the 1950s until today will in future enrich National Museum’s collections and will provide a possibility to look at American Crafts in the Nordic context.

International Textile Art Biennale 
(Fibre Arts Australia)
Emu Park Art Gallery
EMU Park
13 Hill Street
Queensland, Australia 
From April 15 – June 10, 2023

Neha Puri Dhir handwoven silk
Overflow by Neha Puri Dhir, stitch-Resist Dyeing on Handwoven Silk (Diptych), 95 x 128cm 95 x 32cm, 2022. Photo by Neha Puri Dhir

Fibre Arts Australia is highlighting the contemporary practice within Art Textiles as an art form.

​The International Art Textile Biennale (IATB) seeks to exhibit the best of contemporary art textiles and invited submissions, from Australia and Internationally, that reflect a wide range of works related to the textile medium. Thirty-five artists were selected to participate, including Neha Puri Dhir. The works are exhibited at various locations throughout Australia.

Wendy Wahl Installation
Wendy Wahl Installation. Photo by Brooke Yung, assistant curator

Paper Town
Fitchburg Art Museum
185 Elm Street
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Through June 4, 2023

This exhibition takes paper out of the two-dimensional into a world that is fantastical, intricate, colorful, and personal. Inspired by the materiality of paper and the metamorphic quality of the papermaking process, Paper Town explores paper in pulp, cast, folded, and cut forms. The exhibition includes artwork by several artists located in New England:  May Babcock, Erik and Martin Demaine, Andrea Dezsö, Tory Fair, Hong Hong, Fred Liang, Michelle Samour, Heidi Whitman and browngrotta artist Wendy Wahl.

Polly Barton Irate
Works by Polly Barton, James Bassler and others in Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth. Photo by Polly Barton.

Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth
Seattle Art Museum
1300 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
Through May 29, 2023

Visitors to Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth, will enter the woven world of ikat, a complex textile pattern that knows no borders. Presenting over 100 textiles from the museum’s global collection with gifts and loans from a dedicated Seattle-area collector, Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth is an introduction to the meticulous and time-honored processes of dyeing threads to create complicated hand-weaving. Contemporary work in the exhibition includes tapestries by Polly Barton and James Bassler, and an extraordinary installation by Rowland Ricketts.

Connective Threads
Palos Verde Cultural Center
Fiber Art from Southern California
Curated by Carrie Burckle and Jo Lauria
Through April 15, 2023

Carol Shaw-Sutton installation
Persephone’s Filters by Carol Shaw-Sutton. Photo by Carol Shaw-Sutton

Connective Threads provides a window into what is currently engaging fiber artists, even as this discipline continues to evolve and change. Emanating from artists’ studios in Southern California, the exhibition offers unique perspectives on the complicated identities of fiber art as a genre. Collectively they offer a penetrating examination of fiber’s possibilities. Exhibiting artists include Jim Bassler, Cameron Taylor-Brown, Ben Cuevas, Mary Little, Michael F. Rohde, and Carol Shaw-Sutton. 

Detail Magdalena Abakanowicz
Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Montana del Fuego detail by Tom Grotta

Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope
Tate Modern
Bankside
London SE1 9TG
Through May 21, 2023

In the ’60s and ’70s, the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz created radical sculptures from woven fibers. They were soft, not hard; ambiguous and organic; towering works that hung from the ceiling and pioneered a new form of installation. They became known as the “Abakans.” Many of the most significant Abakans are brought together at the Tate Modern in a forest-like display in a 64-meter long gallery space.

The exhibition explores this transformative period of Abakanowicz’s practice when her woven forms came off the wall and into three-dimensional space. With these works she brought soft, fibrous forms into a new relationship with sculpture. A selection of early textile pieces and her little-known drawings are also on show.

And of course, there are the four “don’t miss” events browngrotta arts is involved in this Spring.

Norma Minkowitz installation
Norma Minkowitz: Body to Soul installation. Photo by Tom Grotta

Norma Minkowitz: Body to Soul
Fairfield University Art Gallery
Bellarmine Hall
Fairfield, CT
Through April 6, 2023

Gyöngy Laky and John McQueen
Out on a Limb by Gyöngy Laky and Billboard by John McQueen from the WordPlay exhibition.

Wordplay: Messages in Branches & Bark 
Flinn Gallery: Greenwich Library
101 West Putnam Avenue 
Greenwich, CT
March 30 – May 10, 2023

Aby Mackie detail
Detail: We Can All Be Saved 10 by Aby Mackie, gilded gold lead decontructed and reconfigured antique textiles, 2022. Photo by Tom Grotta

Making a Mark: The Art of Self Expression
Bay Street Theater
1 Bay Street
Sag Harbor, NY
Through May 7, 2023

And last, but not least, our Spring Art in the Barn at browngrotta arts:

Dominic Di Mare installation
The Mourners, Dominic Di Mare from the Acclaim! Works by Award-Winning Artists exhibition, waxed linen, wood, 46.5″-50.5″(h) x 24″each, 1962. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Acclaim! Work by Award-Winning International Artists
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road
Wilton, CT
April 29 – May 7, 2023

Hot Off the Presses! Gyöngy Laky: Screwing With Order Now Available

June 22, 2022 0 Comment
Rib Structure, 1988 and her book Gyöngy Laky: Screwing With Order, Assembled Art, actions and creative practice. Photo by Tom Grotta.

We are thrilled to report that copies browngrotta arts’ latest book, Gyöngy Laky: Screwing With Order, Assembled Art, actions and creative practice, have arrived in the US from our publishing partner arnoldsche art publishers in Stuttgart, Germany. Order a copy on our website: http://browngrotta.com. Designed by Tom Grotta, with text edit assistance from Laky and Rhonda Brown, and featuring Tom’s photography and that of several other photographers, the book examines the career of renowned textile artist and sculptor Gyöngy Laky from three perspectives. First, is Laky’s personal story of immigration and education narrated by arts and culture writer, Mija Reidel. Second, is an assessment of the evolution and impetus for Laky’s artwork by David M. Roth, editor and publisher of Squarecylinder, a San Francisco Bay Area online visual art magazine. Third, are images of forms, vessels and wall works, 249 pages, divided into seven sections: Drawings in Air, Grids, Vessels, Words & Letters, Signs & Symbols, Site Installations, and Abstractions.

Sun Stream, 1995 and Flat Figure, 1992

Laky has been described as a “wood whisperer.” Her highly individual, puzzle-like assemblages of timber and textiles helped propel the growth of the contemporary fiber-arts movement. Laky’s art reflects an extraordinary personal story: Born amid the bombings of World War II, escaping from post-war, Soviet-dominated Hungary to a sponsor family in Ohio, attending grade school in Oklahoma, studying at the University of California, Berkeley and in India, then founding Fiberworks Center for Textile Arts in the 1970s and fostering innovations as a professor at the University of California, Davis. And, since the late 60s, she has been creating individual works and installations in the US and abroad. 

Line, 1992 and Oll Korrect, 1998

Laky’s oeuvre, which reflects those experiences, “defies easy classification,” writes David M. Roth. “It draws on the history of indigenous people using found or harvested objects to create art and basic necessities; the 20th-century tradition of using found objects in collage,assemblage and sculpture; and the design and engineering principles that undergird contemporary architecture.“ Symbols and three-dimensional words feature in much of Laky’s work — using wood in this way, Roth posits, is akin to learning a foreign language, and Laky is conversant in more than a dozen,”becoming conversant in the dialects ‘spoken’ by each species.” Pieces like Line have been described as “cheeky.” Letters in works like Lag can be read in more than one way — in this case, as “Gal,” a statement on the hiring of women faculty at the University of California. “[It’s] an intellectual kind of play,” says Bruce Pepich, executive director and curator of collections at the Racine Art Museum, in Wisconsin.”It’s not a conventional sense of humor, but it’s the kind one gets from walking into various layers that exist in objects …You can take them at face value, but the more questions you ask, the deeper your engagement goes.” You can engage with more of Laky’s story and her art in Screwing with Order. The book provides insight into Laky’s studio practice, activism, and teaching philosophy, which champions sustainable art and design, original thinking, and the value of the unexpected.

Detail: Natura Facit Saltum, 2011 . Photo by Tom Grotta.