November Issue 2001
Appalachian State in Boone, NC, Features Works by Suzanne Stryk & Linda Lewis
Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, will present an exhibition entitled, Collective Conscious, at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery by Linda Lewis and Suzanne Stryk. The exhibition will be on view through Nov. 23, 2001. The event is part of Appalachian State University's Visual Arts Series, sponsored by the Office of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Art.
Fibers artist and former Appalachian State University Master of Sociology graduate Linda Lewis earned her MFA from the University of Arizona after studying at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen, Denmark as a Fulbright Scholar.
Lewis has participated in several solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally, having presented her works at the 5th International Textile Competition in Kyoto,Japan, as well at the United Nations Fourth World Congress on Women in Beijing, China in an exhibit entitled, Global Focus: Women in Art & Culture. She has twice served as guest lecturer for Arizona State University as well as for the Telarana Weaver's Guild and the Danish Design School. An accomplished writer as well as artist, Lewis has been published in several national and international journals including Surface Design Journal, Flying Needle, Fiberarts, and International Tapestry Journal.
Lewis's fiber work is based upon her interest in the history of ideas and the development of ideological systems. Her three-dimensional works consist of pieces created with paper from printed or handwritten text, such as pages from dictionaries, history books or personal papers that are stitched together to form large surfaces. The surfaces are then dyed or stained and distressed resulting in a lacy fabric that casts a shadow onto adjacent surfaces. Other times, paper is laminated onto a sheer foundation fabric in a pattern, resulting in transparent and opaque areas. Found objects may be incorporated into her works as well.
According to Lewis, the work serves to deconstruct text both physically and figuratively, representing the process of negotiation through social and ideological concepts that the artist feels, "must occur in order for change to take place."
Virginia artist Suzanne Stryk is a nationally known painter who earned her MFA in Painting from East Tennessee State University after earning a BA in Art History from Northern Illinois University. Stryk has participated in over fifty group exhibitions spanning the continental US and Alaska and her works have headlined sixteen solo exhibitions across the east coast. Galleries throughout the south and midwest including Asheville, NC's Blue Spiral 1 and Soho Myriad in Atlanta, GA, carry her vibrant and evocative paintings. Stryk's works have been featured in various magazines, newspapers and exhibition catalogues, including Southern Accents, Art Papers, and New American Paintings catalog.
Stryk's paintings focus on and explore the themes of our relationships with nature and that of collecting objects from nature. Her multi-sectional works consist of areas within a piece having been "built-up" using found materials or modeling paste to create a highly textured surface, while other areas remain smooth yet detailed. The artist's interest in the counterpoint of rough textures with fine images evokes a sense of activity with stillness. Stryk states, "the look of writing is an important element in my (paintings)...the way it visually weaves around images," suggesting the wish to impress a sense of order and meaning upon the natural world represented within her pieces.
For more information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or call the gallery at 828/262-3017.
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