MEANING and REPETITION

Bill Bowser · Bob Burgess · Kimberley Bursic · Jennifer Duncan · Pam Frederick · Alan Lipton · Joan Mayfield

Curated by Veronica Szalus

Wednesday, February 28th - Saturday, March 23rd, 2024

The latest show of the Premier Associate Artists at Studio Gallery explores the themes of “Meaning” and “Repetition.” As one of the main principles of art making, repetition plays out in each of these artists work in different ways which in turn either creates the meaning of the artwork or supports the concept by the reoccurrence of certain elements.

For Joan Mayfield, repetition in her work is inspired by the language of nature with repeated patterns found in the spirals of tree rings, the meandering of water, and the branching of shrubs and trees. Her collages celebrate the path forged by water as it rushes by. Using cardboard, tarpaper, plaster and found papers, Mayfield includes the cycle of reuse into the meaning of her sculptures. Repetition shows itself in subject matter akin to Morandi’s still life paintings of bottles, Monet’s Haystack paintings, or Eva Hesse’s “Repetition Nineteen III” cast cylinders in Pam Frederick’s work. Frederick plays with this idea of repetition in her collages of Vessels made from found wallpapers representing the forms again and again. Jennifer Duncan’s pieces take an up-close look at her subject matter; tumbleweeds, to communicate the spread of an intriguing invasive species. Her layering of the silhouette of the plants, with the intertwining branches provides a framework for the artist to express visual texture and explore color. Bob Burgess’ photographs repeatedly capture the environment he finds himself in. Training his sensibilities to surprise and discovery, he grabs the moment and pins it down on film. His photographs are a portrait of the artist in that moment.

Kim Bursic’s prints use the repetitive techniques of the printing process with the recurrence of shapes to create a series of art. Using the sunken ships of Mallows Bay Ship Graveyard as inspiration, Bursic represents the structures and watery scape as it turns from a vessel into solid scape. William Bowser’s kübel or “bucket” shape is a theme he repeats. His series of built objects in clay (Kübel) refer to both his ancestral name and it’s meaning in German (bucket). His structures require two openings like a window, that also reference two handles of a bucket. Bowser’s sculptures hold all of these messages in containment and utility. Al Lipton’s paintings are a contemplation on forms and structures from his surroundings. Inspired by the built environment, he repeatedly uses bright colors and slashing marks to depict what is around him.

Together, these artists’ work offers a stimulating array of explorations of what they find meaningful by using the process of repetition.