As the long winter relinquishes its harsh grip on New England, Studio Place Arts presents Flying High, a multimedia show guaranteed to provide a spirited launch into spring. Running through April 16, Flying High is an exhibit that explores the dynamics of flight. Comprised of 39 works from 22 Vermont artists, the exhibit features fabric, metal and papier-mâché sculptures that hang from the ceiling, clay sculptures that propel off pedestals and clamber up walls, oil, encaustic and acrylic paintings that showcase varying aspects of flight, and photographs that celebrate an athletic twist on the theme.
Steel sculptures such as Soar by James Teuscher of East Hardwick, and Marshfield sculptor Steven Bronstein’s
copper and steel (with attached springs) Dragonflies and Ladybug each reveal different qualities of airborne movement. John Brickel’s quirky ceramic and found object Bat Bots furtively climb up one wall of the gallery, while Nicholas Hecht’s papier-mâché She Spirit seems to glide gently upwards, dancing on air like wisps of smoke or feathers in the breeze.
Anne Davis’s Flock of Birds, a series of 6 brightly colored mixed media paintings, gaily flitter down the hallway wall, and Montpelier artist Kristen Schuyler’s fanciful purple, orange and gold hued Flying Horse fabric sculpture springs forth at full gallop, held aloft by invisible string.
A series of 6 black ink on white vellum drawings by Plainfield artist Adelaide Tyrol elegantly depict a variety of flying creatures at distinct moments of action. Flight portrays a dark raptor hovering in the air, wings extended, as if contemplating its next move, whereas Avatar features a similar bird with legs down and wings in an upward V-shape, dropping in for a landing from a side angle. In her drawing Emergence, a dragonfly carefully extracts itself from the faded shell of its naiad case. In her darker drawing Echolocation, a delicate gray bat navigates the night sky, using its sharp senses to find its tiny white fluttering prey.
Flying High achieves a sense of lightness, buoyancy, and energy through an interactive display of movement, color and texture that is sure to grant a winter weary audience a welcome breath of fresh air!
