THE SANCTUARY OF TREES and THE SUMMER MEMBERS’ EXHIBITION

BY LEON NIGROSH

August 2005 – Wow, folks, it’s a twofer. That’s right, there are now two art exhibitions going on simultaneously at the ARTSWorcester galleries at the Aurora, 660 Main Street. The “Sanctuary of Trees” exhibit is a collaborative effort by Lora Brueck, Debra Ostrokolowicz, and Pamela Redick based on – you guessed it – trees. There are nearly 50 pieces from these three artists on display, both 2- and 3-D, all created in a variety of styles and in a number of mediums.

This exhibition was selected by an ARTSWorcester jury after a “call to artists” was issued. Normally, individual artists apply for this type of event, but in this case the three women applied with a group proposal. In fact, Lora, Deb, and Pam have been working together for a long time – they’re one fourth of the women’s artist group Art XII and have been showing together around town for the past decade. You might have seen their fascinating interactive installation at Worcester’s First Night a
couple of years ago. The centerpiece of this exhibit is the group’s reconstruction in 42 separate sections of an image of an old elm in Elm Park; it’s mixed media but limited only to black and white. From there on, it’s every woman for herself. Brueck’s favored medium is photography, sometimes hand tinted, sometimes digital. My favorite is her “Tree House: Self Portrait” which consists of a tiny fabricated shack perched in a tree twig) with teeny hovering origami birds and way inside, a small head shot of Lora herself.

Ostrokolowicz is showing some very sensitive pastels of trees deep in the woods, but her strongest work is “Tree Graphic,” a large, free hanging paper, fabric, and branch collage of a big old tree. Redick, whose recent foray into automobile spray paint shows real promise, is nonetheless a master draftsman (woman) when it comes to acrylic paintings such as her haunting “Old Orchard.” There’s more, but you have to see them for yourself.

Take a deep breath and head downstairs for the “Summer Members’ Exhibition.” Unlike of Trees” and Members’ Exhibition unlike the tree show, this one is non-juried, which means that if you bring it they’ll show it. This accounts for the great variation in style, medium, and quality of the 56 works on display. The show is the usual mix of the regulars who are showing simply in support of the organization and the newcomers who’ve either been cajoled by their teachers or are tentatively testing the waters to see if anyone cares.

Tops in the show is John Gamache’s “Tribute to Grant Wood: Death on Ridge Road,” a magnificent painted wooden cutout reproduction of Wood’s famous painting set into an antique trunk. Brett Christian offers a small, gracefully shaped and beautifully colored blown glass flower vase. Natashe Plummer pushes thin paint around, taking advantage of its drips and foibles in her oil painting “Not to Exceed My Expectations” and achieves a semi-abstract image that exudes a certain peace and tension at the same time.

As usual, photography entries abound and run the gamut from blurry to digital. There is some fine exterior work by Do minick Marcigliano and Susan Sedgwick, and an interior by Don Feeney. But they, like most other photographers, are taking pictures of stuff that other people made. So it’s refreshing to see that newcomer Greer Muldowney took the time to stage her photo “The Baptism of Middle Management” with a suited guy standing in the middle of a white shower stall about to be drenched.

Both shows run through August 26.