Bridge 11 - Three Amazing Female Artists

We are deep in the planning stages of our next exhibition—well...next three. Coming up will be the 11th installment of our biennial Bridge Series, which features 3 solo shows. This year we are featuring three female artists who are creating exceptional works that express progressive and unconventional points of view around social, political and philosophical themes.

The solo exhibitions will be featured concurrently at SCC April 15 - October 22, 2011 with a reception on the 15th from 5:30-8.  The wonderful artists who work will be on view include Lia Cook, Anne Drew Potter, and Mariko Kusumoto! Here is a peek at some of the work....

Mariko Kusumoto, Side Show (Music Box with Movement and Metal Pop-Up Book)
Nickel silver, brass, copper, sterling silver, found objects.2003

Mariko is a Japanese-born metalsmith who now resides in the US. She creates intimate metal environments that evoke the rich, sensual Japanese culture of her childhood. Each work is comprised of dozens of small parts - boxes, hinges, musical elements, wheels, etc. A brilliant technician, she uses a variety of techniques including etching, electroforming, and patination. 

Fun Fact: Her formal educational background is in painting and printmaking, not jewelry or metals!

Lia Cook, Facing Maze, Cotton, rayon. 2010

Lia Cook uses portraiture as a way to explore her interest in cloth, touch, and memory. Last year she participated  a residency at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine called TREND (Transdisciplinary Research in Emotion, Neuroscience and Development) in collaboration with Greg Siegle—a PhD professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh—who collected computer data in real time and mapped the human brain at work in response to her woven faces as stimuli. Some of her work created in response to this residency, including the above piece, will be in the exhibition.

Fun Fact: Lia was an early adopter of the computerized loom, making work with it in the early 90's when it became available outside of industry.

The Captain's Congress (detail), 2011

Anne Drew is creating a brand new installation for the upcoming show at SCC, so the image above is just to give you an example of her work. She sculpts “performative” ceramic figures and unsettling installations that address the ways in which social meaning is projected onto forms of the body. By creating a tension between physical forms and exaggerated expressions Potter highlights signifiers of gender, race, and age and encourages viewers to confront their feelings about normalcy and difference. 
Fun Fact: Anne Drew studied dance and history in her undergrad at Swarthmore College in PA.