Nature, politics influence three-artist exhibition
December 15, 2005
KOKOMO, Ind.—A three-artist exhibition running January 8–February 12 at the Indiana University Kokomo Art Gallery reflects on the relationships of humans to science, the earth, and one another.
Things Seen, Things Touched, Things Felt will feature oil and acrylic paintings and mixed media drawings by Scott G. Anderson, sculptures and figurative vessels by Kimberly C. Anderson, and metal sculptures and vessels by Pat Nelson.
Husband and wife, the Andersons live in Hartford City, Ind., where Kimberly operates a studio, Milkweed Ceramics. She has taught beginners and advanced classes at the Indianapolis Art Center for the last ten years and is currently an adjunct professor at Ball State University College of Fine Arts. Scott is an assistant professor at Ball State, teaching painting and drawing. Pat Nelson has taught metalsmithing and design at Ball State for over 20 years. All three have exhibited works in galleries and juried shows cross the country for two decades.
Nelson's latest work incorporates vitreous enamel and depicts what may be animals or plants. Larger pieces might contain hundreds of elements, she said. “All elements-from enameled surfaces to forged wires to hammered edges to wood-must relate and be arranged into a composition that has a hierarchy of design. . . . A great many hours are spent dismantling and discarding, rearranging, and finally redesigning.”
Kimberly Anderson calls her vessels “purposely feminine,” and suggestive of "archaeological excavations, feminine roles, cycles of renewal and decay, and evolution versus mythic belief.” Her latest sculptures-hybridizations of female forms and whimsical chickens-act as “metaphors for nature and life cycles,” she said.
The autobiographical and philosophical goals Scott G. Anderson explores in his painting have become “increasingly political” of late. “ I use humor as a means to ignite dialogue,” he said. His Bush Wars Series includes a 30-foot-long drawing titled Parade of Forms: Here Comes the New World Disorder. “The elements in my pieces are meant to have multiple meanings and extract a conversation with the viewer.”
An artists' reception for Things Seen, Things Touched, Things Felt will be held Monday, January 23, from 4–7 p.m. Admission to all IU Kokomo Art Gallery exhibitions and events is free. Gallery hours are Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Wednesdays, until 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon–4 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.iuk.edu/gallery or call (765) 455-9523.
This exhibition funded in part by grants from the City of Kokomo Community Arts Commission, the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, the Indiana Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
