Syracuse area artists Lauren Bristol and Flora Nyland, who also happens to be my mom. We've known the Bristols all my conscious life via the Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church social circles, and mom & Lauren are especially close.
Lauren Bristol
Lauren Bristol
Sarah Saulson
Excellent!!
Sarah Saulson
Sarah Saulson
Sarah Saulson
Lauren Bristol
he most striking piece from the show! A Lauren Bristol creation that is totally marvelously and PERFECTLY out of character with anything like it I've seen by her. The body is a woven fiber "basket" creation coated with about eight jars of gooey glossy acrylic. I want this! We spoke briefly about it and I could tell it was one she was excited to have on display. We will both let you use your imagination on the imagery, from what I gather it's more metaphoric than representational.
I got a bee hive out of it crossed with the alien spore egg forms from ALIEN which oozed goo upward (via reverse film, a very baffling effect). And Lauren came clean admitting it took her for *ever* to get the droplets right. All of which I knew before even asking. Totally convincing work and a glorious step in a new direction for her!
This piece blew me away once I thought about how divergent the approach was for Lauren given the work of hers I am familiar with. It is most definitely a painting! or a new *kind* of painting, which may not even be regarded as such by she herself. It is a fantastic example of what I regard as the artist always in search of new forms, new methods or materials and new approaches. Her basket and woven forms have always been of a fine arts calibre but this piece seals it up for me that Lauren's quest does not end with the fibers normally associated with her output. I had always suspected it!
Until now she has woven objects or substances into the fabrics but here she sublimates the material with a process that denies it the traditional appeal of a fiber arts piece. Which to me is always about enjoyment of the fabrics or materials used & how they have been manipulated. Here she is saying that the fabric itself is only the beginning of her creative process, with it's presentation at above eye level calling attention to the way a force of nature has sculpted the droplets. So nature then subverts the very un-natural acrylic element and closes the chain of causality by which the work came into being. I am very proud of Lauren's work on the piece and Cheryl's decisions to show & how to show it!
Three cheers, Ladies! ;]
Other work on display and all of it available for sale.
Artist Sarah Saulson at right with a viewer who was as intrigued as I was by her decision to use a cassette tape as a fibers material. Perfect!!!
Edgewood receptions are always packed!
Syracuse area painter Ken Nichols and friends, all familiar faces from the Sparky Town Gallery scene where I was first welcomed into the CNY Arts community.
Artists Lauren Bristol and Diane Menzies.
Syracuse artist/curator Linda Bigness and artist/archivist Flora Nyland.
Myself & Lauren <3
Lauren and her late partner Sparky Mortimer gave me my start in pursuing arts as a real career in Syracuse in July 2009, for which I will forever be grateful. Lauren's work exceeded any expectations I may have had in regards to seeing this show, and it will be my pleasure to work with her again in the near future.
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