(Above: Baskets don’t have to hold anything, they can simply be objects of beauty all by themselves, as in this creation by Corvallis weaver Deb Curtis.)
By Randi Bjornstad
Remember all those old jokes about taking basket-weaving classes? Forget them, because a new exhibit at the Maude Kerns Art Center, “Weaving with Nature: The Art of Basketry,” proves just how glorious and complicated a craft weaving really is.
The show features work by five area weavers, plus art by painter Carla Crow, which fits right in because the artist uses paper derived originally in ancient Mexico from the mulberry plant, and she uses it to feature patterns and images from indigenous artists in Hawaiian culture.
Here’s just a small sampling of what will be on display at the Maude Kerns Art Center:
Donna Sakamoto Crispin’s artistry includes a pair of woven slippers
Eugene artist Donna Sakamoto Crispin uses traditional Japanese and Native American weaving techniques. At the same time, she explores ways to include different materials that she gathers sustainably from her environment. In addition to baskets and paper boats, Crispin exhibits a bright blue woven bird and even a pair of shoes. She has shown work several times at the Maude Kerns Art Center as well as galleries throughout Oregon and beyond.
Basket as art by Deb Curtis
Corvallis artist Deb Curtis refers to herself as a contemporary basket artist. She combines ancient weaving techniques with tapestry weaving, beading, stitching, and surface design, and often blends colors and textures. In this way she changes “the character of the basket from only a functional vessel to a container that expresses a concept.” Curtis has exhibited her work at the Arts Center in Corvallis, and in many venues outside Oregon.
In addition to traditional basketry, artist Patricia Montoya Donohue also creates ceramic pieces such as this series, titled “The Gathering”
Eugene artist Patricia Montoya Donohue emphasizes the use of natural materials, including different varieties of willow, in her baskets, assemblages, and sculptures. She employs traditional methods and adds “a bit of a twist” by varying the weaving techniques or materials . One tiny basket has a painted wishbone for a handle. Donohue’s baskets can be found in personal collections, galleries, and at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
Tri-color basket by Mariana Mace
Corvallis artist Mariana Mace is a fiber artist with a background in textiles, anthropology, and Native American art history. Her work has been included in local and national shows for over 30 years. Mace says that her fiber art creates connections, linking her to family (an 18th-century weaver is part of her family tree) and to cultures of other times and places. She says that “these influences surface in my imagination and flow through my hands to create new art.”
Sheri Smith’s “Rhapsody in Burgundy”
McKenzie Bridge artist Sheri Smith began creating baskets using coiled pine needles in the early 1980s. She first dyes Long Leaf pine needles in a glycerin bath, then coils mixed fibers around the needles, and adds wire, beads, and other materials to complete her piece. Smith uses ancient basket-weaving techniques to make what she calls “eye candy.” “Beauty and artistry, pure and simple. The common thread woven through each piece is a touch of whimsy.”
Michael Fisher, executive director of the Maude Kerns Art Center, hangs a painting by Carla Crow
Eugene artist Carla Crow creates mixed-media paintings on a special paper called Amate that is made from a mulberry plant, using patterns and compositions of the indigenous people of Hawaii where she lived and worked for 25 years. Amate paper was originally made and used in small villages in the Sierra Madre Mountains north of Mexico City. It was associated with religious ceremonies and traditional healing. The “spiritual” quality of this paper resonated with Crow, who says that “before beginning a new painting, I perform a ritual, selecting the sheet that speaks to me, then sit in meditation with the sheet as the imagery unfolds.” Crow has had numerous solo and competitive group shows throughout the Hawaiian Islands. In Oregon she is represented by the Northwest by Northwest Gallery in Cannon Beach.
Weaving with Nature: The Art of Basketry with Paintings by Carla Crow
When: May 25 to June 22, with opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on May 25
Where: Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Ave., Eugene
Artists’ Demonstration: 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 16
Gallery hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday during exhibits
Information: 541-345-1571 or mkartcenter.org
Dozens of pieces by six area artists fill the galleries at the Maude Kerns Art Center as part of its show, “Weaving with Nature” (Photo by Randi Bjornstad)
