"Serenity", Fabric, gold wire, beads, and feathers.
Terri Rogers
Alchemy
9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Bishop Spencer Place
4301 Madison
Kansas City, MO
831.931.4277
(Show curated by Pi Gallery)
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Runs through: Jan. 15
Gallery site: http://www.bishopspencerplace.org
Terri Rogers has spent years working in fabric for other people. While she still loves her day job, now she’s creating for her own pleasure as well.
Rogers envisions and produces soft furnishings (pillows, draperies and the like) for interior designers. Her career choice is echoed in her first exhibition, Alchemy. But furniture-store wall hangings, these aren’t — visually or conceptually.
Let’s start with the latter. In Rogers’ philosophy, there’s no such thing as a discard. So instead of tossing the fabric scraps from her work table, she makes them the raw material for her art. That, in turn, provides its own measure of joy at turning trash into her own personal treasure — a quilt for the creative spirit, if you will.
I was fortunate enough to get a one-on-one tour of the show last month, a few days after meeting the artist on First Friday at Slap-N-Tickle Gallery. As good as the image at the top of this post might look, there’s no substitute for seeing the real thing in a gem of an art space hidden in a retirement community.
The curved wall of the gallery (directions are available at the information desk) is made for works like this. There’s a sense that they’re being pushed outward, which adds to the three-dimensional effect already achieved through the addition of sticks, feathers, metal and stone.
Some pieces, in particular the three mandalas, keep drawing the eye toward their centers. Others highlight the interplay between colors, patterns and textures. All of them give cause for thought and opportunity for action: What do we thoughtlessly throw away every day, and what — if we put our minds to it — could we be doing with it instead?
That might not rise to the level of turning lead into gold, but all that is alchemy doesn’t have to glitter.
3 Comments
January 5, 2009 at 11:05 am
I’ve seen the piece pictured here, and the “real thing” emits a sense of serenity that disappears in the picture. The rest of Terri’s work, as hung by the gallery, evokes immediate emotion; the work of her hands mirrors the work of her heart.
April 22, 2009 at 1:59 am
If you want to hear a reader’s feedback
, I rate this post for 4/5. Detailed info, but I just have to go to that damn google to find the missed parts. Thank you, anyway!
May 30, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Please list our 75th Street Gallery under “Galleries.” I have sent Review press releases in the past…and am wondering why I cannot find our gallery listed? Thank you, Anna Smith