February Issue 2001
Contemporary Artists Use Ancient Techniques in Focus Gallery
In the Folk Art Center's Focus Gallery in Asheville, NC, from Feb. 23 - Apr. 9 two members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild display their latest work in jewelry and printmaking. Relatively new to the Guild, fine jeweler Joanna Gollberg (Candler, NC) and printmaker Marsha Heatwole (Lexington, VA) both joined the organization in 1999, and are recognized for their unique, contemporary expression. In this show, visitors will see that the techniques these artists work with are centuries old, but the forms created can appear new to the 21st century eye.
Asheville native Joanna Gollberg began studying jewelry during her college years at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC, and continued into the late 1990s with a concentration in jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, NY. Since returning to the mountains of Western NC, Joanna has become active in the arts community, serving on the board of the NC Society of Goldsmiths and helping to found the Mountain Metalsmiths Association. Prior to this exhibition, Gollberg's work was characterized by smooth, geometric surfaces of mixed metals in clean, contemporary designs. In this show, a stark departure is in store: an entirely new body of work is dedicated solely to the richly textured art of filigree. This ancient jewelry technique is built on the idea of twisting wires of precious metal and shaping them into patterns, often against a flat metal backing, or as a setting for precious stones. The possible patterns of filigree are endless, and it has been used in various forms by almost every ancient culture, notably in the Far East, Eurasia, Africa and Europe. A fascination with filigree jewelry led Joanna to a Penland course in traditional Norwegian filigree. This new body of work marks the beginnings of a new direction. Flavors of Norwegian filigree are apparent, with an infusion of some of Gollberg's own interpretations. The effect is reminiscent of the rich ornamentation found on swords, crowns or the fine garments of ancient aristocracy. With this work, Gollberg hopes to make a deeper connection with the jewelry traditions of historic cultures, making her artistic advancements more meaningful.
A native of the Shenandoah Valley, Marsha Heatwole has been a printmaking artist for over twenty years, beginning with a degree in Fine Art from Virginia Commonwealth University. The technique she uses, called monotype, is different from other forms of printmaking in that each print is one-of-a-kind. It enables the prints to have a more painterly effect while still being part of an image-transfer process. A version of this method was done by Edouard Degas during the last century in his "ballet series." To make her monotypes, Heatwole uses a "subtractive method" that begins by covering a piece of Plexiglas with black ink. Some of the ink is removed from the Plexiglas using rags, cardboard chips, or fingers to create an image. The paper is then placed over the image and passed through a high-pressure etching press. The image gets transferred to the paper, but some ink stays on the Plexiglas. Two more sheets are passed through the press, picking up the remaining ink, and receiving lighter, more ghostlike images. The first print is usually very black, the second, a dark gray, and the third a light gray. When the ink dries, the images are colored with paints, pastels or colored pencils to give depth and individuality to each piece. Each of the three pieces in the series is slightly different, even though they have been printed from the same source.
Heatwole's favorite subject matter is animals, both wild and domesticated. She captures the whimsy as well as the integrity of her furry, feathered and finned subjects, with an understanding of their behavior and anatomy. The power and purpose of her animal subjects comes through with this method of expression, relating the connection she feels with them.
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