Independent Review: Elements and Transitional Living Services exhibitions

Delavan looks to the elements for its November Show
-Bonnie Rosenberg

Earth, wind, fire, and water are the substances of life and the soul of the Delavan Art Gallery’s latest exhibition aptly entitled “Elements.” Though vastly different aesthetically, three artists – Lynette Blake, Jim Van Hoven, and Amy Haven – come together in this show to communicate their views of nature. The paintings, ceramics, and woodcuts on display reveal the indelible mark nature leaves on each artist and their work.

Lynette Blake explores the infinite through her oil paintings in an effort to connect herself to the viewer, the viewers to one another, and the in the end, everything in the atmosphere.

Blake’s approach to still lifes and landscapes is double-edged, as she melds organic and geometric shapes on the canvas. In Zigzag, tree branches are superimposed with transparent, kaleidoscopic shapes. The paintings appear to have a distorting piece of glass sitting in between the foundational natural image and the viewer’s gaze.

Each painting is covered in hues of blue and copper. When dominated by shades of copper, the canvases nearly glow with warmth, while the bluer canvases are cooler and more somber.

Positive/Negative looks like an over-exposed photograph. Branches and still life elements dissolve into one another. The radiance of suggested sunlight at the heart of the work abstracts and transforms it. Blake’s highly stylized technique is an exploration in unreality and the duality of the image.

Fellow nature enthusiast Jim Van Hoven’s many incantations of landscapes run the gamut in terms of style, technique, and medium. In all of his works, Van Hoven endeavors to relate an experience rather than a likeness. His aim is to truly capture every aspect of the scenes he paints/etches, etc.

His oil works provide placid vistas of the outdoors. In Rainbow Falls a cascading waterfall rushes to the waiting rocks below. Grays, blues, and forest greens constitute this innocuous painting. Beyond paintings, the exhibit also displays Van Hoven’s woodcuts, which sit on a plane above his other works. In Northern Nocturne, intricately cut treetops weave together in front of an invented moonlit night. Less literal and more editorial, these woodcuts alter nature and defy expectation.

Peppered throughout the exhibit are Amy Haven’s ceramic pieces. Not strictly sculpture-in-the-round, and certainly not paintings (although some are fastened to the walls), these works admittedly teeter on the precipice of decoration and function. While the precise setting for them is unclear, the appeal of them is not.

Haven’s ceramic pillows affix to the wall and are ornamented much like a turn of the century travel trunk. Post cards, stickers, stamps, and text are printed on every rotund rectangle as if chronicling a trip abroad. An avian theme flutters throughout the works as does adage-bearing script. Text is applied with a heavier hand in Font Vase, where disassembled letters float on a neutral ceramic background.


Transitional Living Services exhibition

Exterior of the main Elements exhibit is the gallery’s ever-changing Wild Card show. Running until November 14th is the celebratory The Art of the Traditional Living Services. Traditional Living Services (TLS) is an organization that provides services and support to people with developmental disabilities, mental health issues, and brain injuries. It encourages its clients’ creativity while acclimating them to everyday life. The fruit of their artistic labor is what is currently on view.

With some items up for sale and others not, the exhibit offers a diverse collection of works in various forms of media. Graphite drawings, stained glass panels, watercolor paintings, and photographs are just some of the artworks produced not only by residents of TLS, but also by employees and others connected with the organization (which happens to be celebrating its 35 year anniversary).

Elizabeth Edinger’s Family Portrait appears as though it’s been ripped from the cover of a cherished childhood book. The illustration is bright, whimsical, and reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.

This show recognizes the artistic capabilities of those who would not otherwise have the opportunity to showcase their art. It highlights the greater philanthropic project of TLS, while at the same time challenging preconceived notions of what constitutes art and who is an artist.