Lilt

Rhythmic Sculptures Move Through Space

October 20, 2022 – January 23, 2023
Closing Reception: Thursday, January 19, 2023, 5-7 pm

At Noyes Museum Galleries
Stockton’s Kramer Hall, 30 Front St., Hammonton, N.J. 08037 

In our latest collaboration, PS presents a vibrant exhibition of contemporary sculpture at the Kramer Hall Galleries in Hammonton, NJ. On view from October 20, 2022 – January 23, 2023, the exhibition makes use of elements of light, movement, and layered forms to embrace the viewer in a meditative, almost other-worldly ambience. The opening reception took place on Thursday, October 20, 2022 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm, with the closing reception on January 19, 2023 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.

The 25 artworks by 16 artists that were selected by jurors TK Smith and Brittany Webb reflect the artists’ creative responses to the word “lilt.” 

“In this sculpture exhibition, lilt is made tangible through the meticulous manipulation of material into both abstract and figural forms. The artists responding to the open call challenged us to approach the term in new ways, to expansively consider the ephemeral and immaterial, and the definition of sculpture itself.” 

The resulting exhibition is a coalescence of sculptures and multi-media installations that appear to be dipping and swaying in an imagined dance with one another. Woven into the visual presentation is a quieter acknowledgement of themes of harmony, new life, and spiritual connection that informs the work of some of the artists. While others respond to current and impending world crises and disasters, there is still a reference to our shared humanity, suggesting it as a source of hope.

The exhibiting artists are: Jessica Beckwith, Neill Catangay, Marcy Chevali, Kristen Jordan, Aaron Kalinay, Virginia Maksymowicz, Elizabeth Miller-McCue, Lisa Nanni, Joanna Platt, Sherry Rossini, Helge Speth, Kathleen Spicer, Pamela Tudor, Nina Valdera, Michelle Vara and Georgette Veeder. 

The artists work in a variety of media. Those using the ephemeral medium of light create an ambience that spills beyond their corners of the galleries. Jessica Beckwith’s elusive and haunting suspended multi-media work Entrainment uses light and motion to find points of interconnection between the personal and the universal. Nina Valdera’s Turning the Corner mystically projects changing lights as it slowly rotates, while Memory, a mosaic of colored transparent slides hanging in front of a window, incorporates natural light into a different set of changing light patterns. Lisa Nanni’s Magenta/Orange Waves Flowing Sideways made of vibrantly colored glass and acrylic appears to radiate waves of heat while the argon lighting in her Yellow/Blue Oxygen Flow suggests that cooler air is suffusing the room. Joanna Platt’s iCloud (Brigantine uses digital techniques to create a “mediated meditation” as a time-lapse video of a summer day projects onto a cloud shape that is laser cut from clear acrylic.

Other artists push the boundaries of their medium of choice to suggest motion within the restrictions of a static object. The upward movement and irregular lines of Marcy Chevali’s three untitled intricate flame worked glass sculptures create a rhythm and flow that seem to lift them from their pedestals. The curved lines and swirling gestures of Michelle Vara’s steel sculpture, Harmony, suggest a figure in motion while the graceful stance of Georgette Veeder’s Tribute, constructed of handmade paper, could also bring images of human movement to mind. Sherry Rossini’s two delicate stone sculptures, New Breath and Exhale, completely defy their solid state as they almost float away into space. Rossini’s sweeping installation, Chi, made from multiple pieces of bark, achieves the same result using a very different medium and technique. Kathleen Spicer uses a variety of media to create Rhythmic Rollout and Something Old, Something New, her “drawings in space” where overlapping and connected circular forms seem to role forward within their own choreography.

The rhythms of nature command the creative energies of a number of artists. Elizabeth Miller-McCue activates a blank wall with a “garden of windblown leaves” created from cast bronze, seemingly blown in by magic. The thin hand-built organic clay forms in Helge Speth’s Ascending, gently rise up, ready to leave the earth behind. In her undulating palm bark sculpture, Two Halves, One Whole, Pamela Tudor emphasizes the underlying rhythms of organic life. Virginia Maksymowicz melds classical iconography with contemporary world issues in the form of one aspect of nature, the sheaf of grain. Referencing the current grain crisis in Ukraine, her sculpture Zhyttya (Ukrainian for “life”) proudly asserts its sacred position in the eternal cycle of the seasons. 

The revolving relationship between the personal and the universal emerges as a theme in the works of other artists. Aaron Kalinay’s two sculptures, Shinigami Eyes and Kintsugi Gold Tower make use of discarded objects that have lost their identity and are now repurposed and reborn as unique structures with new energy. Kristen Jordan’s installations Feast and Stranger Danger, create a sense of place and time from her intuitive arrangements of natural and artificial objects. Neill Catangay imbues found objects with his own memories to invite others to mine their significance through their own perceptions.

Lilt provides an opportunity for reflection and calm within a space where time appears to slow down.

Visitors are welcome to view the exhibition during normal opening hours, Monday – Friday: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm (Thursday open to 7:00 pm). The Noyes Museum Galleries at Kramer Hall are located at 30 Front Street, Hammonton, NJ 08037. www.noyesmuseum.org

About the jurors

Brittany Webb
Brittany Webb is the Evelyn and Will Kaplan Curator of Twentieth-Century Art and the John Rhoden Collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), where she is responsible for the Museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programs of 20th century art. Prior to joining PAFA, Dr. Webb was a member of the curatorial staff of the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Dr. Webb holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Temple University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California.

TK Smith
TK Smith has curated exhibitions at the Woodmere Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA., the 2021 Atlanta Biennial exhibition at the Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, GA, and at the Zuckerman Museum of Art in Kennesaw, GA. His writing has been published in Art in America, the Monument Lab Bulletin, and ART PAPERS, where he is a contributing editor. Smith is currently a doctoral student in the History of American Civilization program at the University of Delaware, where he researches art, material culture, and the built environment. He received his Master of Arts in American Studies and his Bachelor of Arts in English and African American Studies, with a certificate in Creative Writing from Saint Louis University.