By Sarrah Peters
News Editor
The Walnut Gallery in Gadsden is hosting an opening reception for its new exhibit “Arrangements” on January 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission to the opening is free and open to everyone.
“Arrangements” is a collection of Huntsville artist Christina Weaver’s luminous oil paintings.
Weaver uses familiar objects to create something wholly different.
“I use fabric and other decorative materials as compositional vehicles for my paintings,” said Weaver in her artist statement. “Though faithful representation has always been essential to my work, I have been developing passages in my paintings where familiar items are transformed into something else entirely.”
In order to accomplish the look she wants, Weaver plays with the position of the objects to bring to mind nature’s movement.
“Lighting, ambiguous spaces, and imposed gravities confuse the identity of my subjects and blur the boundary between the ethereal and the physical,” said Weaver. “Discarded wrappings call to mind rolling terrain and tumultuous weather as they change into mountain ranges, flowing rivers, and storm clouds. At the same time, fabric folds resemble something as intimate and close as the interior tangles of the body.”
With these paintings, Weaver hopes to transform the mundane.
“Through these meditations on a curated set of craft supplies, I acknowledge and reconsider objects that are seen as just ornamental, aiming to elevate the frivolous into the realm of the monumental,” she said.
The Walnut Gallery currently is seeking donations for renovations and purchase cost of a new location at 806 Walnut Street, the former Christian Science church in downtown Gadsden. Individuals and the businesses that contribute will be honored in permanent display in the gallery. There are several donation sizes ranging from $5,000 to $500.
So far the gallery has raised about $35,000 of its $75,000 goal.
For more information, visit www.walnutgallery.org/donate.