(Above: What Lies Below is the title of this work by Susan Thomas, part of the Interbeing exhibit at the Maude Kerns Art Center.)

Two shows of women’s art at the Maude Kerns Art Center

When: Jan. 13 to Feb. 10, 2023

Special events: Reception for the artists 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Jan . 13; artist talk with the Interbeing artists from 2-3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4

Where: Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Ave., Eugene (corner of 15th and Villard streets)

Gallery hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays during exhibits

Information: Telephone 541-345-1571 or online at mkartcenter.org

 

“Shards” is the title of one of Anca Browne’s constructions of laser-cut felt

Rhythms: Work by Anca Browne

Browne comes from San Diego, Calif., where she creates artworks consisting of many-layered pieces of laser-cut felt affixed to a back support. Her background is in mathematics and programming, which contributes to her approach to find beauty in creations “based on patterns, rules, or rhythms.”

However, her layering technique often also includes incorporation of what she alls “disruptive elements” that add an unexpected and lively component to her work, often giving it a three-dimensional quality. Her art has been shown in many galleries and museums in California, including the San Diego Museum of Art and the Las Lagunas Art Gallery, as well as galleries in New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

 

Interbeing

Here’s a description of the work by the five Oregon artists — Mary Garrard, Donna Henderson, Jan Lintz, Teresa Myrmo, and Susan Thomas — who found their interconnections during the pandemic when they all “attended” a weekly online open studio, organized by contemporary artist Zoë Cohen. As the sessions progressed, the five women began to realize that their individual work began to incorporate and reflect each others’ as time went on, culminating in collaborative as well as individual art in the form of abstract paintings and and mixed-media pieces:

Overcome Inertia by Mary Garrard

 

Mary Garrard — The Corvallis artist creates works on paper using collage and paint, charcoal or graphite, building up layers until the piece is resolved, by closing off reality and simply arranging visual elements until they form themselves into a finished work. She has exhibited her art throughout Oregon, including the Art Center of Corvallis and the Giustina, Fairbanks, and Concourse Galleries at Oregon State University.

 

 

Interbeing after Lintz, by Donna Henderson

 

Donna Henderson —  From Maupin, she creates creates art by way of a “call and response” process, starting with bold pain strokes or collaged shapes and then intuitively following the composition as it leads her to find its conclusion, not inherently looking for specific objects or images in her work. She has had a variety of solo shows in Oregon.

 

 

Boundaries, by Jan Lintz

 

Jan Lintz — The Eugene artist creates abstract works that involve layering of shapes and patterns that she believes reveal an inner “landscape” of emotions and symbols, organizing something that at first may appear chaotic into something that becomes balanced as the meaning reveals itself. Her artwork has appeared often at the Maude Kerns Art Center as well as other exhibits in Oregon and Wisconsin.

 

Order in the House, by Teresa Myrmo

 

 

Teresa Myrmo — Chinese brush painting and Sumi-e painting occupied the Eugene artist’s work for 20 years before she began exploring her abstraction, which merges the two different approaches in her paintings and mixed-media works.

 

 

What Lies Below, by Susan Thomas

 

Susan Thomas — From Eugene, but also a member of the Women’s C0-Op Art Gallery in Roseburg, the artist relies on intuition to discover pattern, line, shape, and color that reveal what is “under, beside, or behind” what it is that she sees. Her work has appeared in multiple galleries in Oregon.