Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
This still life by Michal Gavish is one of the paintings on exhibit at Aegis Galery in Saratoga.
Local artists go out of their element
By Shari Kaplan
With some two dozen artists participating in one show, Saratoga's Aegis Gallery has gone all out--or perhaps in this case, out of its element.
The eclectic exhibit, "Out of our Element," runs through Jan. 24, and offers a look at the various directions the artists are going. For some, this includes unusual or experimental works; for others it comprises new creative works in their favorite media.
Campbell artist Stacey Miller doesn't limit herself to any one medium. Abstract No. 4 consists of watercolors and found objects in an earthy, nature-themed collage covered with images of leaves--some real and others outlines--including ginkgo, sweetgum and juniper. Her love for the outdoors is also evident in one of her pastels, Long Ridge Loop Trail, Saratoga Gap.
Watercolors are an appropriate medium for Los Gatan Nancy DeWeese's Underwater #2, a canvas reminiscent of a magical undersea grotto whose waters swirl in magenta, turquoise, green and gold. She, too, paints over real objects to leave their outlines; in this case, they're ocean denizens such as fish, kelp and seashells.
Rob Voice, who lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Los Gatos, surprised everyone last year with his first Aegis show, "The Bone Yard." He became known for weird-yet-whimsical composite pieces of animal bones joined by other such items as tree branches, leaves, seeds, bird feathers, fabric, glass and barbed wire.
For "Out of our Element," Voice surprises everyone again--this time with three modest acrylic and oil paintings drawn in simple, bright colors and depicting rather ordinary images. The titles of the paintings, however, are about as far removed from the actual images as titles could be!
Like Voice, Saratogan Starr Davis works in mixed media and found objects. In Cinderella, she uses an old tree stump as a base for a sculpture of metal mechanical parts, a woman's dress shoe, a ceramic plate, feathers, straw, a seashell and other elements. Saratogan Ellen Kieffer's mixed media piece hangs on a wall in a more traditional way: Open Secret combines canvas, rice paper, paint, feathers and twine and is also worth a close look.
Janett Peace of Sunnyvale, who last crafted glass Christmas ornaments and blown glass paperweights, now adds fused glass plates to her repertoire. One striking example is the white plate containing an array of brilliantly colored squiggles and concentric circles. It's dinner-sized, but too pretty to eat on.
Beautiful nature photography, handcast recycled paper in unusual shapes, colored ceramic vessels bearing crystalline snowflake-like patterns, more traditional ceramic pottery and various other paintings round out the exhibit.
Aegis Gallery is at 14531 Big Basin Way. Hours are Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 408.867.0171, or visit www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/8678/ on the Internet.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
