Seven visual artists are featured in an exhibit at Lowell Arts from July 25 to October 3. The theme of the exhibit explores unexpected directions for their materials and methods.
Angela Saxon, one of the artists featured in the exhibit who primarily uses acrylic, mixed media, printing, and gouache (an opaque, water-based paint made of natural pigments, water, and a binder such as gum arabic) said her experience living and working in northern Michigan inspired her work.
“I intentionally create situations in the studio where the marks I make come from that response, directly translating my experience of watching the water, swimming in the water, hearing the water, into the work itself,” Saxon said. “Living and working in northern Michigan offers endless opportunities for observational inspiration for me.”
Saxon works with monotypes, a unique form of printmaking that entails the artist drawing or painting with ink or paint on glass, metal, acrylic, plastic, or any generally non-absorbent surface.
Her monotypes, specifically, recently consist of a focus on moving water and vast water as well as skyscapes.
Her monotype creation process involves printing a series of plexiglass plates in succession to each other on paper. Saxon then applies ink to the plates, manipulating them to add more texture and motion.
She said her process itself is part of her direct, honest response, often tearing, rearranging, or combining the finished monotype, to create collages.
"There is only so much control I have over the tearing of the paper, so that adds yet another opportunity for the process and for me to have a dialogue and a collaboration,” Saxon said.
Saxon hopes visitors will see her creative self in her work as opposed to viewing her art in limited boxes, or through their own perceptions of how the work should be.
“For me a big part of that 'making' process is stepping away from preconceived notions of what I 'should' make and 'how' I should make it, letting my creative self flow into a direct, honest response to the world I'm observing and experiencing,” Saxon said.
Other artists featured in the exhibit use asymmetrical quilts, foliage, wood, tapestries and paintings to deliver visual art outside of what one might normally think to attribute to mixed medium expression.
Janet Teunis, the executive director at Lowell Arts, said she hopes visitors see the work in a “quiet, contemplative way.”
“It is a visually appealing show, and because the materials are fibers, fabric, wood, paper, and natural elements, ideally visitors will leave inspired to make something with their own hands, thinking about material and process a little more intentionally,” Teunis said.
