Thu 9/30 @ 6-8PM
Fri 10/1 @ 6-9PM
Artist Vivien Abrams Collens is now based in the Hudson Valley, where the scenery is a lot more dramatic than in her native Cleveland. But she’ll be coming back home to share her new work — aluminum sculptures — with northeast Ohio at the Maria Neil Art Project on Waterloo. The show officially opens during Walk All Over Waterloo Friday October 1; there’s a special preview showing on Thursday September 30.
The exhibition, we’re told “explores dualities found in both her work and her life. The viewer will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with miniature studies, aluminum bouquets, rambling samplers of welded shapes, and other visually stimulating dimensional objects.”
Collens collects metal of different sizes and thickness and transforms them into three-dimensional abstract works that draw on natural forms such as trees or flowers as well as the properties of her material. Others draw on traditional needlework samplers, using geometric metal shapes and bent tubes to infuse a masculine element into subject generally regarded as a women’s hobby.
Adam Tully, who co-owns the Maria Neil Art Project with his husband John Farina, says, “After visiting her studio and her gallery space we knew that her work needed to be seen back home. Christopher Richards has done a wonderful job curating a selection of playful works that are visually striking.”
The exhibit will be on view through January 7, 2022.