Resonance
Resonance opens the fall season at newARTSpace on September 11 from 5-8 pm for Art Nite in Downtown De Pere. Bringing together photographs from American Dream by David Graham with select fiber works by Northeast Wisconsin artists Toni Bergeon, Pat Baum Bishop, and Bev Watkins, the exhibition creates a dialogue across photography and textiles. Though distinct in medium and approach, the works resonate through shared explorations of color, composition, pattern, place, and human experience.
David Graham
Since turning to color photography in 1979, I have been drawn to the unusual, descriptive, and often overlooked details of the American landscape. My work explores how people express themselves through the environments they create and inhabit—along roadsides, in backyards, and within everyday domestic spaces. These photographs examine the complex intersections of image, symbol, and reality that shape our understanding of America.
In recent years, I have focused on Wisconsin, the northern Midwestern state I now call home. Traveling its towns, cities, farmlands, and forests, I seek both the beauty of the landscape and traces of the people who live within it. The resulting images reveal lives, histories, and aspirations embedded in the built and natural environment.
Through these images, I explore both the distinctiveness of place and the universal ways people leave their mark on the world around them.
by David Graham
Toni Bergeon
All of these quilts began with a photograph. For this body of work, I printed out each of my photographs in black and white, 8”x10”, and have it enlarged to the size that I want the quilt. I use the pattern for key perspective points as my drawing skills are minimal. I use my artistic license to select colors and fabrics to give me the desired effect or change elements in the photo, eliminating or adding different images. I have several goals when I work…maybe it is to recreate the feeling, or draw the viewer in, or highlight certain aspects of the composition. While five of these quilts are based on my photo compositions, the Barn Abstract was much looser and only one block resembles the barn image in the photo. Whether realistic or abstract, I want my passion for the subject to be evident.
Living in Houston for seven years gave me a lot of time to spend on Galveston Island. I was fascinated by the inner courtyards of some of the buildings on the Strand, an historic five-block district downtown Galveston. Tucked behind the brick buildings, you will often get a peek into the inner courtyards. These little sanctuaries are bathed in light from various sources and block the noise from the busy streets. I wanted Courtyard on the Strand to create a mood so you could feel what it is like when you step into the courtyard.
Bryggen by Toni Bergeon
Pat Bishop
I often feel my work is a way to preserve memories. The landscape of Wisconsin is always inspiring me. Simplification is a standard for me, I want it simple and vibrant, in an attempt to portray a feeling, not a recreation.
My artwork is an expression of my outlook and appreciation of nature or a particular subject. I am a private person and have a quiet demeanor but I feel comfortable expressing my emotions through my artwork. The colors I use are usually clear and strong. Texture is also an important part of my work, so I use many different weaves and sources of fabric and often frayed edges of the materials to give depth. Fabric gives so much depth and interest, anything is fair game as long as it doesn’t melt under the iron.
Using cloth rather than paint or some other mediums slows the creative process as there is practical problem solving that needs to be dealt with, how to accomplish what I want with the needs of the fabric. The slower pace takes some of the pressure off to give the time needed to think through decisions about what the piece needs. I have discovered over time that problem solving is an exciting part of the process. Abstraction gives me freedom to manipulate the composition to express what is interesting and important to me. An added bonus of working with cloth are the happy accidents that happen which can be challenging and pleasingly unpredictable.
Sprouts by Pat Bishop
Beverly Watkins
One of my favorite things to do when visiting friends along Lake Superior is to wander the shoreline taking photos of the beautiful textures and patterns in the enormous rocks that jut out into the water.
I am amazed at how plant roots find their way to the sun from underneath these boulders and the tiny plants that find sustenance in their crevices with little to no soil. They are so delicate compared to the platforms they make their home in, and seem to find protection from the pounding surf. By combining embroidery with my photography, my goal with the first two of these quilts is to show the symbiosis between the David and Goliath in nature.
Symbiosis by Beverly Watkins