Cloaked in Color                Benedum Fine Arts Gallery, Waynesburg University

October 7 to November 2 2007

Cloaks clockwise from left:  Druid Cloak: Fire; Druid Cloak:  Earth; Ode to Work; Druid Cloak: Spirit; It Takes Work; March 20, 2003; Druid Cloak: Air.

Cloaks clockwise from left: Druid cloak: Spirit; Global Warming:  Sacred Feminine: Maiden; Sacred Feminine: Mothers and Daughters; Sacred Feminine: The Crone; March 20, 2003; Druid Cloak: Air

Cloaks clockwise from left:  Druid Cloak: Spirit; It Takes Work; Global Warming; Sacred Feminine: Maiden; The Secret Keeper's Cloak; March 20, 2003

Artist Statement

          My cloak sculptures reflect and explore our experience of alienation from and participation in the cycles of life.  The form of cloaks is universal.  Cloaks have been worn for millennia by all classes in society, all ages and genders, and in most cultures and regions of the world.  Their uses range from the mundane to the sacred and from the practical to the ceremonial. 

          The first series of cloaks, the Druid Cloaks, began with the five cloaks representing the five elements:  earth, air, fire, water and spirit .  The Druid Cloak: water won the prestigious Bashioum award for most flamboyant at the 2002 exhibition, Fiberarts Now, in Pittsburgh and the purchase award for Art of the State at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg in June 2006.  Other themes addressed in the cloak series include the sacred feminine, death, social commentary and personal relationships.

          My art is a practical approach to the concepts of intimacy, creativity, and the creation of meaning.   I approach art as a way of making sense of the world and attempt to engage the “audience” actively in the process of the co-creation of meaning.  I have been drawn to fibers and textiles because the infinite variety of forms, colors, textures, and techniques they provide means I need never compromise in my search to make my pieces meaningful.

Click on each picture for a larger view.

Druid Cloak:  Earth         Druid Cloak: Air             Druid Cloak: Fire

Druid Cloak: Spirit                             The Sacred Feminine: Mothers and Daughters   The Sacred Feminine: The Maiden

The Sacred Feminine: The Crone         It Takes Work                                    Ode to Work

Global Warming             The Secret Keeper's Cloak