Exhibition - Cut, Stitch and Paste

Andrew Mowbray, Fred H. C. Liang, Rachel Hellmann and Andy Millner

This summer exhibition explores and elaborates on the traditions of collage. These four accomplished artists assemble their diverse materials, from Tyvek to mylar to paper, sewing or pasting these skillfully cut elements into elegant compositions.

Andrew Mowbray's Tyvek quilts are an innovative twist on a historically significant fine art tradition. Mowbray limits his palette and his design elements to the industrially printed house wrapping material manufactured by Home Depot or DuPont. With a nod to the "Readymade", these works are, however, carefully planned and constructed, transforming this ubiquitous material into stunning works of art. Fred Liang's newest works elegantly explore the complex layering of collage. Through a screen of skillfully cut paper Liang's compositions suggest flora and fauna and other gifts of nature. These rich and dense works utilize several printmaking techniques combined with gouache and cut paper. Rachel Hellmann layers a variety of materials in her abstraction collages, combining the transparency of mylar with opaque fabrics and paint, all cleverly aligned with hand stitching. Playful yet thoughtful, Hellmann embraces the freedom of collage with the discipline of sculpture. Andy Millner cuts and layers both in the computer, where his drawings are created, and again on mulberry paper attached seamlessly to linen. Millner further embellishes his collage works through hand sewing, cutting and reassembling his imagery into magical landscape compositions.