WHERE: Sauder Visual Arts Center in Grace Albrecht Gallery

WHEN: Sunday, January 8 through January 27, 2017. Note: Reception for the artists is from 1:00-3:00 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2017.

Twee Kunstenaars

BRIEF ABOUT: The artists’ works (Michael Peoples and Tom Duimstra) reimagine common, everyday objects in order to investigate the ways in which value and meaning are created and assigned.

About

     Michael Peoples is a self-taught artist. He has been experimenting with mold-making for several years, primarily casting in wax and creating work using multiples and repetition. Each work explores the significance of number, color, and form upon cognitive and emotional experience. Many of his installations are ironic commentaries on taxonomies; the wax typically being salvaged and reprocessed into new works. Often formed from layers of wax poured into the source objects themselves, the pieces supersede the mold-making process. Much of his imagery is derived from the minutiae of childhood that holds personal meaning or cultural significance. The tactile nature of the work as well as the associated smell of the crayon that is used as the coloring agent has had an alluring effect on the viewer. He currently resides in West Michigan and has shown extensively regionally.

     Tom Duimstra says, “My work expands outward from a central point of minimalism, into a world of texture, color, and mark-making.  The work communicates an artistic balance of receiving and giving, looking and responding, that is intended to draw viewers in and invite further contemplation. I seek to create a conversation between universal and personal visual language by incorporating elements of the everyday into my work. I start with a vague idea, and set sail.  The end of the journey usually has nothing to do with the beginning, but it’s been a long, strange trip.

     The use of ubiquitous materials and discarded objects is important to my artistic process, which involves manipulating and presenting materials in new contexts.  I am interested in investigating the ways in which aesthetic value and meaning are created and assigned, by both the artist and the viewer. These artifacts are representations of that exploration.

     Artist Duimstra has been exhibiting work nationally and internationally since 1979.

 

NorthWest Passage Record/NWPR release