Texture & Response Gallery Guide

GALLERY GUIDE

Karen Cygnarowicz, Chill Pill, 2023, hemp, acrylic yarn, and rope

Texture & Response prompts us to consider our fascination with visual texture in sculptural artwork. In this exhibition, New England artists Karen Cygnarowicz, Gracia Nash, and Ann Wessmann build bridges between contemporary fine art and traditional craft. Each of the three artists exercises creativity and resourcefulness in her material choices, in order to spark tactile curiosity in the viewer.

Karen Cygnarowicz examines the intersection between traditional craft and contemporary art through intricate woven patterns and thoughtful structures, drawing attention to the quality and character of her fiber materials. Utilizing glass beads and flexible silicone, Gracia Nash pushes the boundaries of her materials and investigates how they affect perceptions of human vulnerability. Through the meditative, seasonal gathering of chestnut hulls and twigs, Ann Wessmann creates intimate constructions that evoke time, memory, and life’s fragility.

Texture & Response asserts that our visual perception of dimensional surface is just as compelling as the physical sensations of touch. Working in materials traditionally associated with craft, including glass, wood, and fiber, these artists are unified by a shared meditative practice, investigation of material process, and responsiveness to the allure of texture.

— Jacquie O’Brien, Curatorial Assistant and Gallery Coordinator

Karen Cygnarowicz, Death Work, 2023, cotton rope, wool yarn, and polypropylene rope

CHECKLIST

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1. ANN WESSMANN Gathering #8, 2019-2023 horse chestnut leaf stems and waxed linen thread 30 x 24 x 2"

5. ANN WESSMANN Gathering #4, 2019-2023 horse chestnut leaf stems and waxed linen thread 54 x 48 x 18"

2. KAREN CYGNAROWICZ Loose Ends, 2023 cotton rope, wool yarn, silk thread, and copper dowel 32 x 62 x .5"

6. KAREN CYGNAROWICZ Death Work, 2023 cotton rope, wool yarn, and polypropylene rope 48 x 18 x 9"

3. GRACIA NASH Specimen #2, 2019 silicone and glass beads 36 x 54 x 12"

7. GRACIA NASH Lay Me Down to Rest, 2018 silicone, glass beads, and video 30 x 30"

4. KAREN CYGNAROWICZ Chill Pill, 2023 hemp, acrylic yarn, and rope 35 x 12 x .5"

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES KAREN CYGNAROWICZ is a writer and textile artist whose work activates materials through tactile and multisensory engagement. Influenced by nature, meditation practice, and the mundane, she creates large-scale textile and fiber work, highlighting the process of macro-weaving—a technique involving knotting cords or strings together to create intricate patterns and textures.

Cygnarowicz received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has exhibited art in solo and group shows throughout the United States. She has published writing in The Rumpus, Wanderlust, and Past Ten, served as editorial fellow for Hunger Mountain, and been a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center. She lives in Montpelier, VT.

GRACIA NASH is a multimedia artist and educator working in glass, sculpture, and performance. Nash’s work explores physical and symbolic aspects of her Thingumabobs, 2022 materials, as well as their relationships to bodily vulnerability and personal identity. Nash received her BFA from Alfred University, NY, and her MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, NY. She has exhibited her work in the United States and internationally. Nash received the Glass Art Society’s Saxe Emerging Artist Award (2020), and she has been a resident artist at Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, WA, and Achi University of Education, Nagoya, Japan. She currently resides in Rochester, NY.

ANN WESSMANN draws on themes of time, memory, and ephemerality in her sculptural constructions, which explore scale and the emotional resonance of materials. Wessmann evokes the meditative and accumulative aspects of gathering when collecting natural materials such as chestnut hulls, twigs, nuts, or shells. She received a BS from Skidmore College, NY, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, MI. Wessmann’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States at venues including the Fuller Craft Museum, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, and Art Complex Museum. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts.

RELATED PUBLIC PROGRAMS

FAMILY ART SATURDAY November 25, 2023, 11 – 1pm

Get creative and make art together at Family Art Saturday. Join BCA for a drop-in creative activity inspired by the work of Texture & Response artist Ann Wessmann. Explore how working with found materials can root us in appreciation for the places we call home. Create your own unique nature print using materials collected from around the city of Burlington. Feel free to bring items you have collected, or use those provided by our BCA educator.

MATERIAL WORLD: A CONVERSATION ABOUT SCULPTURE TODAY Thursday, January 25, 2024, 6-7:30pm BCA Center, 135 Church Street BCA leads a panel discussion about the dynamic arena of contemporary sculpture, featuring Texture & Response artist Karen Cygnarowicz alongside Vermont-based sculptors Kevin Donegan and Meg McDevitt. Panelists share their experiences working with distinctly different materials and reflect on broader conversations around three-dimensional artwork. Topics include how sculptors seek to make art more accessible to their communities, and explore the renewed attention to the meaning and influence of materials.

All gallery programs are free and open to public.

SCHOOL VISITS BCA gallery educators lead inquiry-driven group tours that encourage close looking, critical thinking, and thought-provoking conversation. We link these gallery conversations to hands-on art activities that explore exhibition themes, materials, and artistic processes. We welcome public, private, and homeschool students in grades pre-K to 12 and beyond.

Program fee: $10 per student. Groups are invited to apply for a partial or full scholarship.

Please contact Kristin Dykstra, Gallery Learning and Programs Coordinator, at kdykstra@burlingtoncityarts.org for more information or to reserve a visit.

Hospitality sponsors: Lake Champlain Chocolates, Farrell Distributing, and William Hill Estate Winery. Burlington City Arts is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council & the National Endowment for the Arts.

135 CHURCH STREET, BURLINGTON, VERMONT, 05401 BURLINGTONCITYARTS.ORG