COMMUNITY

Every year, VIVA Gallery members decide on a theme for a January show to be interpreted with each artist's own unique vision. This year, the theme selected is "Community".

Within my printmaking work, I aim to explore themes that might help myself and the viewer understand how we interpret, experience, and interact with the natural world around us, and how we tell stories to make sense of our worlds. I am interested not only in how humans impact the world around us (often to devastating effect), but also how the natural world impacts humans, our history, our cultures, and our experiences. While we often perceive ourselves to be separate from the natural world, we are in fact constantly living in relationship to it.

They experience the sublime sensation of creating sculptures through a traditional technique: cartonería (coming to Mexico from Spain in the 16th Century). They use structures of wire, reed frame, or clay molds followed by layers of paper. Cartonería’s texture is smoother and stronger than that of most papier-mâché. Cartonería comes from the word cartón, which means cardboard or heavy paper. One of the foremost celebrations nowadays in Mexico is Day of the Dead, the celebration where the dead are honored and remembered. Artists of paper (cartoneros) create Catrinas (dressed skeleton ladies), skulls, and skeletons to decorate streets, museums, or cultural places from October 31 to November 2.

Cyndie Rauls resides in the Driftless region of Wisconsin. Surrounded by the deeply wooded topography of the area, she looks to the voids left in the wake of the emerald ash borer. Cyndie collects etched and lifeless pieces of ash trees; remnants that are as visually striking as their devastation is emotionally resonant. Once gathered, she reconstructs the spirit of the ash tree into sculptural form. The scars left behind by the beetle provide the foundation for each sculpture, while sister woods of mahogany, walnut, cherry, oak and hickory are integrated for their color, texture, and contrast.

Cyndie dives deeply into the relationship between what is found and what is lost, drawing a sharp focus on functional extinction. Her process is intuitive, allowing the wood to guide her in physically documenting the tree’s story. What materializes is an abstract meditation on the beauty and power of wood. Each sculpture is meant to draw attention to the ash tree’s journey in an attempt to preserve a fragment of its existence before it is lost forever.

DAAF Peoples Choice Award winner

I work at a landscaping company. I love it. I paint because I have to. I don't know if I believe in muses, but I definitely feel like the images are shown to me somehow, and I need to try to get them down as closely as possible. I don't know what the paintings mean. That is your job. Please tell me.

Gabriel Berg was born and raised in rural Minnesota. He currently resides in the inspiring Driftless region of Wisconsin Gabriel is a self-taught fiber artist who comes from a family of artits, writers and musicians, He has explored many approaches t art making before falling in love with his current mixed-media approach to fiber arts.

Gabriel hand patterns each piece and creates the intricate support for the delicate, colorful threads that are woven into detailed ad marvelous patterns. Gabriel creates a connection from artwork to viewer through sacred geometry and mandala work. Using symmetry, balance and patience, he crates highly detailed works of art, that have a natural zen, even spiritual feeling to them, that captures the attention of viewers.

I am a self taught artist. I love to travel, road trip is my favorite phrase. Hitting the road with my camera and canvas and paints is a joy for me. All of my art is done plein air or by referencing my own personal photo's that I have taken on my many trips. In the past I have been a pencil artist, but a few years ago I discovered scratchboard art and I really love it. I love high contrast and with scratchboard I can finally get the deep blacks that I have always wanted.

The scratchboard technique is a two-dimensional subtractive process. It involves the use of abrasive tools to directly remove a surface layer of one value (typically dark) to expose a second layer (typically white). The values within the artwork are predominantly achieved by varying the amount of surface layer that has been scratched away or left. The texture and form of all key compositional elements within the artwork must be created by subtractive removal, not exclusively by the addition of paint or ink. Reapplying transparent mediums over the scratching is permissible, but the underlying scratches must remain visible. Works may be color or black and white.

I have enjoyed art, gardening, and the changing seasons all my life. The inspiration for my prints and drawings largely comes from those deeply rooted passions. Exploring the natural world, in combination with contemporary ideas and my own interpretations feed into my work as well. My first love was and is drawing; paper and pencils, copper and an etching needle. Etching provides opportunity for rich detail, texture, variety and surprises . . . all which I adore. I live in southern Wisconsin with my husband and Ruby.

James lives and writes in the Driftless area of Wisconsin, where he is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Viterbo University. He earned a PhD in English & Creative Writing from the University of Denver and served as the Associate Editor and Managing Editor of Denver Quarterly. Previously, he taught ethics and composition at Colorado School of Mines and creative writing in the low-res MFA at Naropa’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics.

James is a Contributing Editor to FivesQuarterly.com and the web designer for Ilora Press, a digital journal in partnership with the Emengini Institute for Comparative Global Studies. He serves on the Board of the Driftless Writing Center. With his three kids, Lola, Daisy, and Casper, he makes collages under the name, Rara Avis.

VIVA Gallery in Viroqua presents the 13th annual Artisan Market. The market will include the creations of a guest artists in an array of different media along with new work from VIVA member artists. The market is a perfect place to find special, one-of-a-kind gifts for the holidays.