Dawn Wohlford-Metallo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal Cork Art Quarterly No. 9 presents:
Dawn Wohlford-Metallo : Feeling the Breeze - Attitudes
Where: The Crystal Cork Wine Shoppe, 219 W. 1st Street, Dixon, IL
When: August 7, 2010 - October 31, 2010
Artist Reception: Saturday, August 7, 2010 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
STATEMENT
Feeling the breeze and other attitudes about life
Through the use of handmade paper and a variety of other materials, I create three
dimensional representations of ideas, feelings or actions. In "Feeling the Breeze", I
wanted to evoke memories of a breezy summer day. The sheets of paper become
sheets on a clothesline, flapping lazily in the breeze. Can you hear the rustle of the
leaves? the voices of the children playing? the chirping birds? the music of the ice
cream truck? Don't you want to run between the sheets and feel their cool dampness
on your skin?
"Wind Dance" is also about visually capturing the wind. Whether this piece is
actually moving or not, the cascading elements remind us of leaves falling from a
tree, being scooped back up and tossed again.
My static pieces disclose attitudes or feelings I have toward certain situations.
"Listen More, Talk Less" reveals how I feel about people who never seem to stop
talking. "Letting Go" is really a visual reminder to myself; don't sweat the small
stuff….you get the idea. In some pieces, the use of specific materials, such as
shredded currency, provides another layer of meaning to the work. While I hope the
visual aspects of my work are enjoyable, the titles are important for a full
understanding of the content.
The art I create reflects my life. Each piece requires a great deal of planning and
goes through many time intensive stages before ready to present. I enjoy each
stage of the process. After all, it's the journey that makes life interesting, not just the
destination.
BIOGRAPHY
Sculptural paper artist Dawn Wohlford-Metallo first learned how to make paper at a
workshop in New York City during the National Art Educator's conference in 1983.
She then went back to Northeast Missouri State University and read everything she
could find about handmade paper and experimented as much as possible without
any real equipment. Then, with a Bachelors degree in hand, she decided to go west
and learn from the "man who wrote the book." Upon arrival at Arizona State
University, she discovered that Jules Heller was taking a sabbatical that semester,
so she would have to trust John Risseeuw to impart this wisdom. It turned out that
Risseeuw was also a nationally known papermaker and he taught everything from
the history of papermaking to how to make a perfect sheet of paper and so much
more. After an intensive (and wet) semester in the paper lab, Dawn headed to
Colorado where she became an apprentice to internationally known papermaker,
Raymond Tomasso. There, she assisted in the production of paper for another
famous artist, R.C. Gorman and produced 150 sheets of nearly identical denim
papers for a limited edition book, Strange Papers, which was assembled and
bound in Germany. Once she had established residency in Colorado, she became a
graduate student at the University of Colorado in Boulder where she obtained an
MFA in sculpture in 1988. In 1998, she moved back to her roots in Iowa where she is
currently the Visual Arts Director for Quad City Arts, cares for her home & family and
works on her art every chance she gets. The recent addition of a Hollander Beater
handmade in New Zealand makes papermaking easier and even more fun.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal Cork Art Quarterly No. 9 presents:
Dawn Wohlford-Metallo : Feeling the Breeze - Attitudes
Where: The Crystal Cork Wine Shoppe, 219 W. 1st Street, Dixon, IL
When: August 7, 2010 - October 31, 2010
Artist Reception: Saturday, August 7, 2010 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
STATEMENT
Feeling the breeze and other attitudes about life
Through the use of handmade paper and a variety of other materials, I create three
dimensional representations of ideas, feelings or actions. In "Feeling the Breeze", I
wanted to evoke memories of a breezy summer day. The sheets of paper become
sheets on a clothesline, flapping lazily in the breeze. Can you hear the rustle of the
leaves? the voices of the children playing? the chirping birds? the music of the ice
cream truck? Don't you want to run between the sheets and feel their cool dampness
on your skin?
"Wind Dance" is also about visually capturing the wind. Whether this piece is
actually moving or not, the cascading elements remind us of leaves falling from a
tree, being scooped back up and tossed again.
My static pieces disclose attitudes or feelings I have toward certain situations.
"Listen More, Talk Less" reveals how I feel about people who never seem to stop
talking. "Letting Go" is really a visual reminder to myself; don't sweat the small
stuff….you get the idea. In some pieces, the use of specific materials, such as
shredded currency, provides another layer of meaning to the work. While I hope the
visual aspects of my work are enjoyable, the titles are important for a full
understanding of the content.
The art I create reflects my life. Each piece requires a great deal of planning and
goes through many time intensive stages before ready to present. I enjoy each
stage of the process. After all, it's the journey that makes life interesting, not just the
destination.
BIOGRAPHY
Sculptural paper artist Dawn Wohlford-Metallo first learned how to make paper at a
workshop in New York City during the National Art Educator's conference in 1983.
She then went back to Northeast Missouri State University and read everything she
could find about handmade paper and experimented as much as possible without
any real equipment. Then, with a Bachelors degree in hand, she decided to go west
and learn from the "man who wrote the book." Upon arrival at Arizona State
University, she discovered that Jules Heller was taking a sabbatical that semester,
so she would have to trust John Risseeuw to impart this wisdom. It turned out that
Risseeuw was also a nationally known papermaker and he taught everything from
the history of papermaking to how to make a perfect sheet of paper and so much
more. After an intensive (and wet) semester in the paper lab, Dawn headed to
Colorado where she became an apprentice to internationally known papermaker,
Raymond Tomasso. There, she assisted in the production of paper for another
famous artist, R.C. Gorman and produced 150 sheets of nearly identical denim
papers for a limited edition book, Strange Papers, which was assembled and
bound in Germany. Once she had established residency in Colorado, she became a
graduate student at the University of Colorado in Boulder where she obtained an
MFA in sculpture in 1988. In 1998, she moved back to her roots in Iowa where she is
currently the Visual Arts Director for Quad City Arts, cares for her home & family and
works on her art every chance she gets. The recent addition of a Hollander Beater
handmade in New Zealand makes papermaking easier and even more fun.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Brought to you by the people at The Crystal Cork Wine Shoppe, Trein's Jewelry, Tangibles and Distinctive Gardens, working cooperatively to expand our area's strong community support for the arts. |
Artists
| "Feeling the Breeze" handmade paper installation by Dawn Wohlford-Metallo |
