Each creative family is creative in its own way, and it’s that uniqueness of artistic expression that Derby Arts Council offers for consideration in their “Art in the Family” exhibition on display through June 24 at the Derby Public Library.
The library sits just off the bustle of Rock Road, yet the building is quiet, inviting, and tucked into a neatly landscaped space. The large double doors open into a high-ceiling, bricked foyer, and it’s on these walls that visitors first encounter “Art in the Family,” a showcase of art by members of 15 families.
Seven families’ works line the foyer, complemented by those of the eight other families in the Community Room adjacent to the entrance. From photography to fiber arts, the pieces show how truly woven expression can be — from father to daughter, from husband to wife, and from grandmother to grandson.
The displays themselves — clusters of four to eleven pieces — fan across the walls, like the branches of a broadly-based family tree. Even the artwork labels bear resemblance to an illustration of family connections one might find on an ancestry website.
Viewed through one lens, the images in the Stockebrand Family’s photographic installation might be described as predator versus prey. A coyote stalking the fields in “Mousing” is opposite “Carolina Pronghorn,” which catches an antelope grazing. Both photographs are by Brian Stockebrand. In a different light, the logic of the arrangement might be as simple as largest to smallest, down to the momentary flap of the hummingbird’s wings in “Humming Around” by Greg Stockebrand to the impressive wingspan of the bird captured in a reedy wetland in “I Be Ibis” by Elvin Stockebrand. But it’s the breadth of the images that make the collection lovely, from land to sky, images taken by father, son, and grandson.
The Fortine Pike Family display features works by two sisters. The bold color palette of Laine Pike’s “Big Blue’s Harvest” contrasts with the subdued hues of “Picking Flowers” by Lauren Fortine. While Pike’s pieces lean toward realism with an abstract edge, her sister Fortine’s brushstrokes encourage the viewer to stand closer and consider pattern.
Intricate lace patterns complement geometric photography in the Runge Family works, located in the foyer. In “Pink and Blue,” wife Melanie Runge’s small stitchwork weaves a figure that is both crosshatch and sunburst, the semicircle motif repeated as often as its opposite. Likewise, the two photographs adjacent, “Bee Taking Off” and “Wichita Time Warp” by husband Marty Runge mimic the geometric patterns. The six pieces in total play off of one another in shape and hue with pinks, blues, greens, and whites bouncing from one medium to the next, from thread to pixel.
The largest collection comes from the Ausherman Depew Mathias Family, and the words “Mother + Three Daughters” just under the family label indicate the link between pieces. Despite its composition of multiple materials — textile arts, line drawings, mixed media, and watercolor — the thread of the family’s work is clear. The central piece by Abby Ausherman is silkscreen on fabric and titled “Woven Together.” The greens, reds, blues, and sepia tones of the family portrait resemble a patchwork quilt, yet the faces are blurred, connections overlap, and the fabric stretches to accommodate the Olan-Mills-esque grouping. Frayed at the edges, the piece seems to indicate that even close-knit relationships are never as picture-perfect or uncomplicated as they seem.
“Planted” by Kayann Ausherman looks like batik fabric, but instead of a wax-resist, the layers of paint and mixed media create the relief and depict a turtle nestled safely among a riot of leaves. “Blooming Peonies” by Betty Mathias is a watercolor patchwork with an ink drawing overlaid, and “Cochineal” by Abby Ausherman is yet another silkscreen piece, featuring a scarlet swath that acts as the backdrop for an embroidery reminiscent of honeycombs and indicating the interconnectedness of everything inside the hive.
Family is stitched into each piece of the exhibition on display at the Derby Public Library, and it invites viewers to wonder what creative ties bind us to those we hold closest.
shelly. walston. writes. 