Featuring work by Jean Ann Fausser & Friends

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Opens 2nd Friday, April 8, 5-8pm

Continues through Friday, May 6. All work will be available online for purchase as well at in-gallery.

GALLERY HOURS AFTER OPENING: THURS 5-8pm, SAT 1-5pm

Liggett Studio is a located at 314 S Kenosha, Tulsa, OK 74120

 

Exhibit Statement

As the title of the exhibit suggests our relationship to our natural environment is increasingly challenged by forces both manmade and cyclical.  We have nine artist participants in this exhibit who have created works which reflect their personal relationship to nature and the environment.  Each artist has exhibited in his or her art practice a strong connection to the environment.   Working in a variety of mediums the artists display a sensitivity to nature from various aspects dependent in part on their chosen materials and style but overall, the exhibit is a paean to the earth.  The Buddhist monk, Thich Naht Hanh, best describes our relationship to earth in his Love Letter to the Earth:

“At this very moment, the Earth is above you, below you, all around you, and even inside you.  The Earth is everywhere.  You may be used to thinking of the Earth as only the ground beneath your feet.  But the water, the sea, the sky and everything around us comes from the Earth.  Everything outside us and everything inside us comes from the Earth.  We often forget that the planet we are living on has given us all the elements that make up our bodies.  The water in our flesh, our bones, and all the microscopic cells inside our bodies all come from the Earth and are part of the Earth.  The Earth is not just the environment we live in.  We are the Earth and we are always carrying her within us.”

Rachel Rose Dazey creates beautiful jewelry which celebrates our connection with others, with ourselves, and with the world around us.  The mountain symbology found in her and her partners designs connect with the natural world and celebrate its beauty.   

Penni Gage creates jewelry that reflects her strong connections to the environment and the flora and fauna she surrounds herself with as an avid gardener.
Dave Muller was a professional geologist before he retired and has devoted himself to becoming a first-rate nature photographer.  He has traveled extensively to capture his exquisite photos of animals, birds and nature.

Pam Husky taught for ten years through the Oklahoma Arts Council (Artist-in-Residence) before she joined the faculty at UCO where she taught weaving, fiber art, art education and drawing.  She has been the recipient of many awards for her work in addition to heading up the art department at OCU.  She has been concentrating on her felted landscapes the past several years conveying the beauty of the sky, waters, grasses, tress, rock formations and mountains.  She helped establish an environmental clean up group but her works are not meant to be climate statements.

Marjorie Atwood is a contemporary painter with degrees from Sarah Lawrence College and Parson’s School of Design.  She has an abiding concern for the environment.  She strives to sound an alarm by using beauty in her paintings to make the viewer feel more comfortable with her concerns yet allowing them to stay present in mind and not swept under the rug.

Cathryn Thomas is a ceramic artist who teaches as well as creating stunning sculptural works from clay and assemblage materials.  She earned Masters Degrees in both music and art at the University of Tulsa.  She uses her craft as a way to communicate humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

 
Whitney Forsythe often works with large scale ceramic installation sculptural mandalas.  She taught in the art department at the University of Tulsa before opening Red Heat, a ceramics studio where she both works and teaches along with other ceramic artists.  She uses natural forms to convey the cycle of life and the circle of community.

Jean Ann Fausser earned her BA from the University of Tulsa and has honed her skill through many workshops she attended around the country as well as in the Tulsa area.  She works with a variety of craft mediums, including felt, cloth, paper, wire, beads and more.  The driving force behind her work is her concern for the environment.

Terri Higgs displays a sensitivity to nature through her silk panels portraying tree and leaves.  Terri dyes and prints images from nature and the environment on silks and handmade papers.