Growing Hope: A Collaboration for Our Times
by Sue Bianchi, Kevin Daniels and Barbara Kibbe
Opening Reception: Nov 6, 5pm - 7pm
Free Community Workshop: Dec 12, 11am - 2pm
Closing Reception: Jan 3, 3pm - 5pm
Gardens are powerful metaphors – for hope, growth, renewal, and resilience. Gardens feed us - literally and aesthetically. And gardens have inspired art and artists through the ages.
Artists Sue Bianchi, Kevin Daniels and Barbara Kibbe have created a new body of work inspired by gardens, exploring the themes of renewal and resilience and aimed at visualizing hope in the future..
As a group, we represent diverse approaches to art-making from painting to printmaking and textile arts. We admire each other's work and are thrilled by the potential of supporting each other creatively.
The group exhibition, Growing Hope includes collaborative and individual work:
Trees of Life. In this case collaborators worked independently to create three versions of the tree of life - showcasing the approaches and media that are our creative signatures; and,
Seed Banking. Each of us explored the visual power of the seeds that germinate to become the rich flora that supports life and healing on our small blue planet to create an installation of 24 small works overall.
Gardens are powerful metaphors – for hope, growth, renewal, and resilience. Gardens feed us - literally and aesthetically. And gardens have inspired art and artists through the ages.
In the context of a year-long collaboration, textile artists Mel Beach, Sue Bianchi and Barbara Kibbe are creating a new body of work inspired by gardens and aimed at visualizing hope. We co-create and cross pollinate through regular shared studio time and field trips, exploring our own type of hybrid vigor.
As a group, we represent diverse approaches to art-making from the representational (Bianchi) and the symbolic (Beach) to the abstract (Kibbe). We admire each other's work and support each other creatively. It is clear that our work together is influencing our individual creative development.
Our mutual exploration includes experimentation with various approaches to surface design and a range of materials. We are supporting and challenging each other to create at least 10 new pieces including collaborative projects to visually anchor a joint exhibition. The following are under development:
(1) Community Gardens. Envisioned as a triptych with each of us cultivating our plots (aka art quilts) with seeds (aka visual elements) provided by our collaborators. These large pieces (30” x 40”) will hang together and anchor a wall in any exhibition.
(2) Trees of Life. In this case collaborators are working independently to create 30” x 30” versions of the tree of life - showcasing the approaches and media that are our individual creative signatures.
(3) Seed Banking. Worldwide, seed banks secure the genetic diversity and future of our planet’s flora and our food supply. We are each engaged in a reverent meditation on essential and beautiful seeds. The result will be a series of small works (6” x 6”) where the essential visual elements are inspired by seeds, pods, pits, bulbs, nuts, and sprouts.
We expect Growing Hope to be engaging for audiences on multiple levels. Our primary motivation is to encourage all of us to hold on to and cultivate hope. We aim to uplift gallery visitors with work that is both beautiful and playful. Growing Hope will also showcase three individual artists’ interpretations of the theme and encompass a wide range of techniques for creation, assembly, and surface design. We think other artists and makers will find the range of approaches interesting. And we expect gardeners will find the subject matter engaging and maybe even amusing.
