January 21st-February 12th, 2011
In an exciting new collaboration at Modified Arts, artists Ingrid Restemayer and Christy Puetz explore issues of implied symbolism, identity and self in the exhibition Shapeshifters. Through the stimulating interaction of Ingrid’s mixed media stitching and Christy’s meticulously beaded sculptural installation, the artists express the human nature to assign meaning and assume roles. Together the work creates a delightful, yet paradoxical, atmosphere alluding to the artists’ experiences of changing from one self to another and adapting to culture and context.
The common found objects in Ingrid’s intimately-scaled mixed-media pieces are ensnared and preserved in delicate hand-embroidered environments. The artist says of the work, “Drink swords, pushpins, bits of pop culture and the flotsam of everyday life are transformed in meaning or symbolism when I combine them with hand-stitching–changing their physical or implied contexts.” Each object alternately seems held in captive surrender or active rebellion to its threaded restraints.
Christy’s beaded taxidermy animal forms blend pristine white surfaces with erupting colors, elaborate patterns and organic shapes. The work subtly addresses the issues of the different faces we each put forth given our current surroundings, as well as the eventual effect these transformations have on who we become as a whole—a conglomeration of parts of different creatures. Positioned in a mythical environment inspired by the Greek tale of the Three Fates, each form is transformed into a creature—a creature not yet in full existence, but in the process of changing form, color, and purpose.
Ingrid and Christy earned their BFAs in Fiber Arts together at the University of North Dakota in the 1990s. Ingrid resides in Minneapolis, where she focuses her efforts in printmaking and fibers. Her work often features intricate etchings collaged with fine papers, the surface finished with hand-stitched embroidery. Christy lives and works in Phoenix. She has spent more than a decade developing her fiber art and beading techniques and exhibits her work extensively.
Live Performance: Saturday, February 12, 5-7pm
In the world premier of ‘Bound Oject,’ Ingrid will create live and “life size” versions of her found object work at Modified Arts. For the past several years, Ingrid has been creating artwork using discarded items, bits of pop culture, and the flotsam of everyday life. Each object is given a new context when it is removed from its surroundings and inserted into an intricate hand-embroidered environment on fine art paper.
A living, breathing person will become the ‘found object’, gradually hand-sewn by the artist to a large, paper-covered substrate. “Bound Object” is Ingrid’s own comment on the idea of capturing a moment in time – the deliberate and intimate act of hand sewing and the fleeting and transitory nature of time.
Opening Reception: Third Friday January 21st, 6-9pm
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