Exhibitions: Past

Liminality is a concept that connects the works of Phyllis Ewen, Lin Lisberger, and Michael Yefko. A liminal moment can "refer to in-between situations and conditions that are characterized by the dislocation of established structures, the reversal of hierarchies, and uncertainty regarding the continuity of tradition and future outcomes."

This potential for observation and clarity, of being able to position oneself on a threshold is an extraordinary thing. In singular ways each of the artists in the exhibition works with notions of moments of being that are either relative to, because of, or a response to another moment or thing.

Phyllis Ewen
Phyllis Ewen makes works that seek to capture the essence of the ecological world overlaid by human involvement. This idea of powerful, environmental, or naturally evolving forces changed by our actions is not new. But Ewen's unique perspective to observe the conflicts raised by these environmental issues provides another way to understand their cause and effect.

Ewen has written of her work, "As an artist, I have long been interested in the ways that our imagination interacts with the natural world, a world that is never far from the effects of human intervention. In this series, I am exploring the cultural and social history of water and its role in the development of agriculture, political and economic conflict, and the building of empire.

This exhibit combines wall installations of cast elements and wire with sculptural drawings. In these, I collage maps and texts, to indicate the divisions that human intervention has imposed on the world's ecology and water supply by the use of dams, canals, and irrigation. The calligraphic elements in ink, in the collages, and in wire, represent our most precious resource and its refusal to be controlled without a fight. The wall texts give continuity between the different elements."

Lin Lisberger
Lin Lisberger is a wood carver and her work is often autobiographical. But her deep reverence for the life of the tree, whose wood she works with, is manifest in every piece she makes. Her most recent works are carved knots, often paired together, suggesting relationships. In other ways they suggest the necessary connections between opposing concepts such as "tangle and security."

Lisberger states, "I am predominantly a wood carver and have been for most of my sculpture career. Over time my sculptures have echoed many images, but have always resonated with the attributes of wood. Each sculpture is a sketch of a moment in time and space and the life of the tree. My concern about form has been consistent because it describes both object and space, and thus creates a foundation upon which a narrative can be built. The wood I use is native New England wood.

I began to carve knots a few years ago to suggest handholds and stabilizing places along climbing ropes. Recently the knots alone have become one focus of my work. Large and small, they are a challenging pleasure to carve. They represent both security and tangle, two fighting aspects of my life as a parent and artist."

Michael Yefko
Michael Yefko has made deft use of the idea of between. In his writing he speaks directly to these ideas, "The work I am presenting in this show has come about by working /between/. Between is what happens in the middle, against the push/pull, the beginning/ending, the ends, the opposing forces, etc. I have worked with the physical in between space such as the wall and floor or the void between solids. I have also worked with the conceptual middle found between the then and now, good times/ /good times (bad times/ /bad times) or between sending and receiving.

In all of my work over the last few years, I have also been working with house and/or home motifs as a means of exploring my place in the world and my deep concerns for contemporary housing issues."

Phyllis Ewen
Selected Exhibitions
Off The Wall, Curated by Susan Stoops, Danforth Museum of Art. Framingham, MA, 2011; Appearances, Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown MA, 2011; Corrientes Mundiales- Obras De Phyllis Ewen, Galeria Espacio Abierto, Havana, Cuba, 2010-11; The Space Between; and A Collaboration, Marran Gallery, Cambridge MA, 2010.

Recent Awards
Visual Fellowship Grant, LCC, Somerville Arts Council, 2009; and Artist's Resource Trust Grant, Berkshire Taconic Foundation 2007.

Selected Reviews
Somerville Journal, Delia Marshall, Shaped Poetry At Winter Hill Community School, July 2009; and Cambridge Cheronical, Phyllis Ewen Exhibits At Muddy River, May 2009.

Lin Lisberger
Selected Exhibitions
Maine Wood Biennial 2010, Center for Maine Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine, 2010; Bridges, Two Point Gallery, Portland, Maine, 2009; Journeys, 3fish Gallery, Portland, Maine, 2007; and Expressive Figures, 3fish Gallery, Portland, Maine, 2005.

Residencies and Grants
Fulbright Scholar finalist, 2000; Morse High School, Bath, Maine and Sculpture residency, 1995

Reviews and Articles
Christine Temin, Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood: Space is the Place, Sculpture, November 2009; Peter McLaughlin, Art al fresco: Contemporary Sculpture, The Berkshire Eagle, July 2009; and Philip Isaacson, Lisberger's 'Journeys' a trip worth taking, Maine Sunday Telegram, June 2007

Selected Exhibitions
Hera @37, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI, 2011; We Talk About Architecture, Architecture Talks Back, CCRI Knight Campus Art Gallery, Warwick, RI, 2011; Expo 30 - International Juried Competition, Juror: Maura Lynch, Assistant Curator of Drawing, Museum of Modern Art, NY, b.j. spoke gallery, Huntington, NY, 2011; Crossing Currents: Feminist Art Now, URI Feinstein Campus, Providence, RI, 2011; and Sod, sculpture installation, URI Project Space, Kingston, RI, 2011

Honors and Grants
Faculty Development Grant, RISD - funding for documentation of "Preserve" at South County Art Association, 2000; andFaculty Development Grant, RISD - funding for travel and research of old growth forests and clear cutting practices in the Pacific Northwest, 1997

Publications
The Best of Color Pencil III, Rockport Publishers, Rockport, MA, 1996; Creative Inspirations, A Collection of Drawings and Paintings, Rockport Publishers, Rockport, MA 1997; and The Ocean State Review, a journal of literary arts featured visual artist, debut edition, 2011