‘Under Construction’ Exhibition On Display At Village Arts Through Sept. 19

Artwork from the ‘Under Construction’ exhibition display at Village Arts through Sept. 19. Photo Courtesy Village Arts

Artwork from the ‘Under Construction’ exhibition display at Village Arts through Sept. 19. Photo Courtesy Village Arts

Artwork from the ‘Under Construction’ exhibition display at Village Arts through Sept. 19. Photo Courtesy Village Arts

BY KEN NEBEL
Village Arts

It’s orange cone season in Los Alamos, and Village Arts decided to get in on the theme by asking artists to show us what they have under construction. More than two dozen artists responded with 42 pieces that celebrate the “work” in artwork! Artwork is on display through mid-September, so brave the traffic and visit Village Arts before it’s too late!

Several artists have invited the viewer to participate in theirexplorations. Fiber Artist, Melissa Alexander’s “The Missing Link” asksthe buyer to choose the color of her scarf’s last link and Phylisha Hamrick asks onlookers “What Am I” in her painted abstract. The baselayers of John Ambrosiano’s oil landscape, seascape, and abstract read like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story of what might happen in the next chapter.

This exhibition offers a rare glimpse into the working process of many recognizable local artists, and a behind the scene tour of current projects and interests. See how plein aire painter Karen Trythall works through an oil landscape and what Gloria Sharp’s batiks look like intheir early stages. Take a peek into Ken Nebel and Seth Dustin’s sketchbooks and the blueprints of Ezra Estes’ dream home. Viewers will even see what’s currently in the embroidery hoops of Helena Whyte, Lydia Marshall, and Nancy Cope!

Peggy Durbin, Jill Durnal, and Barb Eberhart exhibit a variety of graphite drawings and colored pencil pieces created as students of Jared Krupp’s drawing class, and Jared himself shares a set of scratch art pieces highlighting musicians that he is building into a body of work. A beaded skull represents a series currently in the process at Lacey Cones’ studio.

Artist Ann Greene breaks down how she designs and creates her imaginative beaded pieces, giving viewers a sense of the complex planning required for her work. The themes of building and rebuilding are front and center in Jocelyn Warner’s paper mache and mixed media sculpture “A Story Unfolding” and Aria Warner’s mixed media “Deconstruction of Thought”. Fran Stovall’s mosaic of an “Osprey Constructing a Nest”, Sue Ellen Hains’ collage “It Takes a Village”, and Stephen Leduc’s photograph of the “Dragon Wall” explore more physical ideas of construction.

However the artist chose to enter into the theme, this exhibit is uniquely set up to explore more about the drive to create, so STOP by Village Arts, take a SLOW stroll through the gallery space, and YIELD to voting on a piece for the Viewer’s Choice award. Artwork is on display through Sept. 19! Village Arts is located at 216 DP Road and is open from 9 AM-4 PM M-F and 10 AM-4 PM on Saturdays. Find out more on social media or by visiting www.villageartsframing.com.

The next exhibit at Village Arts is a Mystery, and all artists are invited to submit! Village Arts is remembering Agatha Christie and her mysterious legacy, so clue us in or leave us puzzled. We just want to know who dunnit!