October Issue 1999
Joyful Contemporary Designs in Focus Gallery at Folk Art Center
Featured in Asheville, NC's, Folk Art Center's Focus Gallery through Oct. 12, 1999, collage artist Pei-Ling Becker and glass artists Deana Blanchard and Chuck Young of Selena Glass and Metal show some of their latest one-of-a-kind works. With vivid colors and abstract, contemporary designs, these Western NC members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild evoke mirth and happiness in the viewers' spirits, bringing a joyful energy to the surrounding environment.
The first crafts learned by Taiwan native Pei-Ling Becker were from her grandmother when she was a young girl. At an early age, Pei-Ling became accomplished at traditional crafts such as the art of paper folding and decorative knotting techniques. While still a teenager, she wrote, designed, and illustrated a book of Chinese knot tying published in Taiwan in 1982. Marriage to an American brought her to the US as a young adult, and Black Mountain, NC has become her home. After over a decade of American life, Pei-Ling has retained artistic attachments to her Oriental roots, and her heritage is evident throughout the body of her work.
Pei-Ling's focus in recent years has been devising contemporary usage of Oriental art forms in paper. Her mixed-media collages involve papers of many textures and colors, some she has made herself, which she tears, folds, weaves, dyes or other vise alters into colorful, eye-catching displays. Other Asian objects find their way into her three-dimensional wall-pieces, carrying with them symbolic Chinese meanings. Bits of bamboo, stone, beads, incense, cork and even money hold significance, delivering a distinct message in each collage. A lotus flower can signify rebirth, a paper fish, prosperity, and bamboo is said to house the spirit world. The overall design of each piece, including color and composition, also carries a special flow of energy, or "feng-shul", which assists in visually bringing the message to the viewer. Decisions about where to place this paper or that bead come intuitively to Pei-Ling; her pieces often resemble forms from her religious background in Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity. Her recent Temple Series, like much of her work, is created in an attitude of meditation, expressing spiritual uplift.
Her work, now very collectable, has won honors at art shows across the country. It's been shown at the Smithsonian's Museum Shop, as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Lincoln Center in New York, NY, and the Guild's Allanstand Shop.
Selena Glass and Metal is a partnership between Chuck Young and Deana Blanchard who have worked collaboratively since their marriage in 1984. Deana left a teaching career in the late 1970s to pursue her love of stained glass. "'Stained glass,'" she claims, "went from hobby to obsession to profession." In the mid- 1980s Chuck joined her and they worked together for years in Boulder, CO. In 1994, they moved to Bald Creek, NC and became members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild.
Influenced by the work of Supremicist artists such as Joan
Miro and Wassily Kandinsky, their window pieces boast bold, abstract
designs in geometric shapes. Their latest work includes wall-pieces
of clear glass, sand-blasted with designs "floating"
in front of patinaed copper. In addition to stained and sand-blasted
glass, they also integrate three-dimensional flame-worked designs.
The effect is bright and playful, where saturated colors catch
shapes of light. Their window, wall and furniture pieces all reflect
the joy and enchantment of their personal outlook on life.
Through the years, Selena has become known as one of the nation's
leading limited production stained glass studios. Their many awards
include the Mayor's Purchase Award at the Spoleto Fair in Charleston,
SC, and the Best Booth Award at the Guild's Fair.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or call the center at 828/298-7928..
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