A Thousand Ways to Kiss the Ground

Mari Andrews and Sheila Ghidini

February 5 – March 20, 2010

Art Murmur opening: Friday March 5, 6-9 PM

Mari Andrews, Sheila Ghidini

Through careful observation, collecting and re-presentation, Mari Andrews and Sheila Ghidini honor both nature and the man-made.  Andrews gathers multitudes of leaves, stones, seeds, moss and other objects she finds on nature walks in the Sierras and elsewhere.  Working intuitively while surrounded by these specimen-like treasures, she singles out some, combining them with wire, pasta, pipe cleaners or paper to create sculptures she describes as three-dimensional drawings.  Either mounted on the wall or suspended, these delicate juxtapositions recall web-like structures, pods and other fundamental forms.  As in nature, each of Andrews’ works can be seen individually as a subtly complex whole, or it may be viewed as one unique element among a symphonic array of interrelated parts.

Ghidini is also a collector of natural objects and images, many of which she finds at her rural Connecticut refuge.  She closely observes roots, birds, feathers and nests, which she uses as subjects for sensitively rendered graphite drawings that she coats in beeswax.  The man-made is not excluded from these representations, for many bird nests actually incorporate bits of stray string, paper, ribbon, etc.  In Ghidini’s most recent works, she creates drawings directly on the wall and assembles with them found objects such as branches, a chair or an old tricycle to create vignette-like installations.  Encountering one of these is like discovering a succinct and evocative haiku.  Weaving together disparate elements, the works of Andrews and Ghidini invite us to rethink distinctions between drawing and sculpture and to reconsider boundaries between the natural and the manufactured.