In “Recycled Art/Art Recycled” the members of the Canton Artists’ Guild imaginatively explore diverse aspects of the meaning of recycling. Some have made art from recycled materials or created art that reflects the idea of recycling. Other artists have taken a previous piece of work and transformed it into something entirely new. Come see these intriguing takes on recycling in prints, drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, ceramics, collages and fiber art.
In upstairs galleries are two solo shows. “Mind & Nature” features drawings and paintings in which Harriet Caldwell explores the functioning of the human and animal mind. The incredibly intelligent ravens are a particular focus. Caldwell has a BFA from Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, where she taught for 18 years. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in many states. She has received multiple awards for her work, including a 2012 Fellowship from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, a 1996 Painting Fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, a grant from the Puffin Foundation and a Millay Resident Fellowship. Caldwell’s work has been included in “Tu non uccidere” [Thou Shall Not Kill] published in Bologna, Italy (2008) and in Poetica Magazine, Holocaust Edition (2014).
“Pandora’s Box” series, the second solo show, features abstract and whimsical sculpture of Stephen Klema. Klema describes these as an exploration of “the processes of accretion and loss—one desire to contain against the other desire to expand; the polarization of forces echoing the constant push and pull from order to chaos and back again.” His sculpture is fabricated using abutting, overlapping and interlocking stained and painted elements intricately assembled to yield a coherent and evocative work.
Klema received his MFA from the Hartford Art School, and his BFA from the Atlanta College of Art. He is a highly accomplished artist who has had indoor and outdoor sculpture in juried exhibits across the nation, with permanent installations in New York, Ohio, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Within our region Klema’s indoor sculptures have been shown at the Becket Arts Center, Five Points Gallery, Silvermine Galleries, the Mattatuck Museum, Farmington Valley Arts Center, Limner Gallery, Kehler Liddell Gallery, and Real Art Ways.
An opening reception is on Saturday, April 20 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The public is warmly invited to attend this free reception.