Art that stands apart
The June exhibit at Manzanita’s Hoffman Center for the Arts features the expressive and distinct work of three Northwest artists: Deborah Gangwer, Jeremy Furnish and Maude May.
An opening reception with the artists will start at 3 to pm this Saturday, June 7.
Gangwer’s “Painting Wonder” is a collection of observations and personal response to time spent roaming north Oregon’s stunning coastline — where the meeting of the sky, water and land become an interchangeable wonder. Gangwer is moved by the natural world, a fleeting moment or a time of day and the subtle interplay of light. She paints to capture a mood or feeling rather than the facts of an exact location. The results are paintings that operate between naturalism and abstraction. With a rich background in design, curating and arts education, Gangwer now paints full-time in Portland.
After years of creating large-scale works and intricate installations, Furnish has returned to the quiet comfort of found-object sculpture. This medium allows him to express an idea, tell a story,
or capture a fleeting moment through a thoughtful arrangement of obscure and everyday items.
A full-time artist for more than two decades, Furnish’s journey spans set design, fabrication and public installations. His sculptures are both tactile and introspective, balancing technical mastery with a childlike curiosity that’s never left him.
May is a collage artist, layering images using hand stitching and photography. She collects discarded snapshots, copyright-free Library of Congress photos, scans of her own photographic art and more. Images are ink jet printed directly onto either linen or cotton and, then along with both re-purposed and new fabrics, are assembled to tell a new visual story.
Layers of hand embroidery and machine stitching bind everything together, both literally and figuratively. May brings a multidisciplinary background in ceramics, textiles and photography to her fabric-based collages.
The exhibit will be on display through June 28 at the Hoffman Gallery, located at 594 Laneda Avenue and open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 pm. For more information go to hoffmanarts.org or call 503-368-3846.