TENERA (11/19 - 12/30/21) by speedwellprojects

TENERA

NOV 19 - DEC 30, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT SPEEDWELL PG. 1

CURATORIAL STATEMENT PG. 3

SHARON CHANDLER CORRENTY PG. 5

LEEAH JOO PG. 11

CRYSTALLE LACOUTURE PG. 21

CINDY RIZZA PG. 31

BARBARA SULLIVAN PG. 37

ANDREA SULZER PG. 47

EXHIBIT IMAGES PG. 55

UP NEXT AT SPEEDWELL PG. 73

ABOUT SPEEDWELL We are an artist-run, 501(c)3 nonprofit gallery in Portland, Maine. We promote the creative work of women who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to their artistic practice. We support women of all races, ethnicities, sexualities, gender identities, classes, and abilities through exhibitions, residencies, publications, and documentaries.

CURATORIAL STATEMENT Tenderness is in need of cultivation. It is a vital counterbalance to the many hard edges we encounter in our daily lives. It is an act of replenishment and communal care. Tenera features six artists whose work centers around tenderness. From intimate, at times nostalgic, domestic scenes to the emanating vibrancy of well-wishes to a loved one, the exhibited works offer moments of reveling in being soft in order to cultivate that essential tenderness. There is tremendous tenderness in the act of making: from the diligent painted realism of Leeah Joo and Cindy Rizza to the repetitive practice of Andrea Sulzer and Barbara Sullivan, to the emissions of love and care of Crystalle LaCouture and Sharon Chandler Correnty, the creative process is one of cultivating tenderness. - Annika Earley

SHARON CHANDLER CORRENTY Sharon Chandler Correnty is an art educator based in Massachusetts. Her passion for teaching since 1979 is based on her endless energy cultivating her knowledge of all art genres. She is continuously embracing every technique and every medium to provide a well rounded creative arts program. Over the past three years she has revisited her love of textiles. On an impulse she signed up for a Gathering of Stitches organized and hosted by Samantha Hoyt Lindgren and since then she has not stopped. The action of taking cloth and immersing it in a marigold plant bath and then the process of cutting and machine stitching and best of all putting a slow sashiko stitch as a way to connect and develop a mindful Practice has kept her centered during these turbulent times. Her husband carefully curated and planted a dye garden and her love of natural fibers has influenced her own wardrobe. It has been so gratifying to drape on her own body and be a witness to what she calls sizeless and gender fluid clothing. She allows the fabric to guide her and her philosophy is that beautiful cloth should be worn. Even if you think you cut wrong or you have made a mistake, it is the problem solving and the results that makes that garment more interesting.

Wedding Ring Dress // Vintage quilt, 28.5 x 50 in., 2020, $1200

Matrilinial Garden // Felted wool, 35 x 62 in., 2019, $1800

Gloria’s Denim // Denim quit, 30 x 55 in., 2018, NFS

SHARON CHANDLER CORRENTY “As an art teacher, it is essential to have a knowledge of different mediums. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work and study with so many talented artists from many different genres. It has taken a lifetime of discovery and exploring an abundance of materials to realize what I am most passionate about. This is an exciting time for me as a maker. My family of origin come from New England with rich ancestral roots of African descent, First Nation Nipmuc, and early English settlers. I grew up with my parents making sure that our family folktales were told and shared. The storytelling within my family has fueled much of my practice as an artisan. I do not identify as a fine artist. In fact, I much prefer the title of a maker. When I see through the lens of the maker it honors the work that my ancestors created. This allows for a deeper connection to celebrating the brilliance, creativity and resourcefulness of my family. My passion for all things textile and fiber has also made its way into my life as an art educator for grades pre-k to grade 12. As an arts educator, I have had tremendous success teaching hand sewing as a mindful activity. Since the pandemic hit and with recent family tragedies, my path to healing through the trauma has been to sew. The work that I share is a result of using textiles that commemorate family members that I love and miss. Each stitch created holds a memory, a poetic story or a funny moment in time. As you view the work, I hope there is a part of each piece that will resonate with you.” //

LEEAH JOO Leeah Joo is a Korean-American painter based in Connecticut. Born in 1971 in Seoul, Leeah was raised by a sculptor father and an illustrator mother. At age ten, her family moved to Indianapolis, where she spent her youth. She studied painting and art history at Indiana University in Bloomington and received her MFA in painting from Yale School of Art. Her paintings have been exhibited widely in the U.S. and South Korea and recognized with awards from Pollock Krasner, George Sugarman Foundation and Connecticut Commission on Arts. Since 1996, she has taught and served as visiting artist and critic for over 25 institutions including the Kansas City Art Institute, Maryland Institute College of Art, Hartford Art School and Fairfield University. She lives and paints in Middlebury and teaches at Southern CT State University and Paier College of Art.

Pojagi Opera Seki // Oil on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2020, $950

Pojagi Turquoise Seki // Oil on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2020, $950

Pojagi Midnight Seki // Oil on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2020, $950

Pojagi Dandy Seki // Oil on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2020, $950

Pojagi Ständchen Seki // Oil on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2020, NFS

Pojagi Cinderella Seki // Oil on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2020, NFS

Pojagi Throne // Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in., 2017, $9500

LEEAH JOO

“When my daughter’s first hanbok arrived, it was carefully wrapped in a beautiful pojagi made of ornate silk as precious as the dress itself. Pojagi, a Korean traditional wrapping cloth, remnants of clothes and bedding is also used as food covering. I have memories of my grandmother preparing our meals early in the morning. She gently covered the food with a pojagi until it was ready to be served. Every morning the menu was the same, but every morning there was a small thrill in the uncovering, to find the neat arrangement of dishes prepared with care. Each bundle through its selection of patterns, colors, and the knot becomes a distinct gift, waiting to be unveiled.” //

CRYSTALLE LACOUTURE Crystalle Lacouture is an artist based in Boston and North Adams, MA. She received her BFA in Painting/Printmaking from Skidmore College in 2000, where she received the Pamela Weidenman Excellence in Printmaking Award. While living in NYC, Crystalle was a longtime assistant to activist artists Nancy Spero and Leon Golub and a printmaker and Resident Key Holder at the Lower East Side Printshop. She has attended residencies at Surf Point Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, the Vanguard Mastheads, the Contemporary Artist Center, and Room 83 Spring. Her work is in the collections of Fidelity, the Hammond Museum, and Skidmore College. In addition to her full-time studio practice and other curatorial projects, Crystalle is a curator at TOURISTS, a hotel near Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA. She exhibits her work throughout New England and New York and is represented by Beth Kantrowitz from BK Projects and Drive-By Gallery in Boston.

MAMA Drawing #30 // Gouache and colored pencil, 11 x 16 in., 2021, $850

MAMA Drawing #32 // Gouache and colored pencil, 11 x 16 in., 2021, $850

MAMA Drawing #29 // Gouache and colored pencil, 11 x 16 in., 2021, $850

MAMA Drawing #37 // Gouache and colored pencil, 11 x 16 in., 2021, $850

MAMA Drawing #43 // Gouache and colored pencil, 11 x 16 in., 2021, $850

MAMA Drawing #44 // Gouache and colored pencil, 11 x 16 in., 2021, $850

Mother and Child // Oil on canvas, larger: 24 x 20 in., smaller: 20 x 16 in., 2021, $1700

CRYSTALLE LACOUTURE “During this year of separation, my mother became seriously ill. She was quite suddenly diagnosed with advanced cancer which was especially surprising as her life’s work has been in wellness and herbalism. In looking for new modes of art-making during the lockdown I came upon a packet of Score Keeper shooting targets. I have long made paintings based on patterns in textiles and wallpaper, thinking of them as prompts for memories of our experiences, so I was drawn to the strong formal compositions of these target papers. Being unable to visit or comfort my mother in her time of need I began a devotional practice of making drawings in her honor. I’ve made approximately one MAMA drawing a day as a love letter to her. I find that there is much creative problem-solving in devising new compositions within an already formally composed image. I try to think of her and about how joyful, ecstatic colors symbolize hope and freedom and represent an antidote to our difficult circumstances. The application of gouache gives these previously disposable papers new weight and turns them into small permanent objects. The act of making feminist totems about tenderness and care immediately revokes the material’s implicit connections to the historically masculine and violent sport of shooting which I like to think gives these works even more power. I embed the word “MAMA” into each drawing as an acknowledgment to my mother, to myself (also a mother), to my signature, and to the cross-culturally similar sounds of humanity’s first utterance.” //

CINDY RIZZA Cindy Rizza is a classically trained, representational oil painter with her BFA from the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Her iconic representations of familiar domestic subjects summon conflicting feelings of comfort and loneliness, hope and foreboding, and of life and loss. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Vermont Studio Center Artist Grant, Second Prize at the 9th Annual Lore Degenstein National Figurative Drawing and Painting Competition at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA and most recently the Best of Show Prize at the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art Annual Juried National Exhibition, in Wausau, WI. Her work is represented at George Billis Gallery in New York, NY and Galerie Mokum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Cindy lives and works in Southern New Hampshire.

Beacon II // Oil on panel, 8 x 10 in., 2020, NFS

Incubator // Oil on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2020, NFS

Serpentine // Oil on panel, 20 in. diameter, 2020, $3200

CINDY RIZZA

“My work delicately renders everyday domestic objects we use to create a sense of security- their utilitarian and decorative functions acting to create a sanctuary. Presenting my subjects in a truthful and formal way may lead to conflicting feelings- it may summon simultaneous feelings of comfort and insecurity, shelter and confinement, and love and loss. It may lead to questions about whether these material comforts keep us safe or more vulnerable. My painting process of intimate examination and skillful rendering also echoes this attachment to things and borders on obsession.” //

BARBARA SULLIVAN Barbara Sullivan is a painter/sculptor and installation artist living in Maine. She works in the age–old medium of fresco, which she learned when she was the head cook at The Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting. Her relationship to the Maine artistic community is long and involved. Sullivan holds a B.A. in Art and Creative Writing from the University of Maine at Farmington and an M.F.A. from Vermont College in Montpelier, VT. She teaches drawing foundations at The University of Maine Farmington. She also teaches fresco workshops; including, The Aspen Institute, The Farnsworth Museum, Haystack Mountain School, Pratt Institute, Bowdoin, Colby, The University of Maine and Monson Arts. In 2007, Sullivan had her first solo Museum Exhibition, at The University of Maine Museum in Bangor, now The Zillman Museum. She has shown widely in Maine including three PMA Biennials and in New York, “Fresco, Off The Wall” at The Hudson Guild Gallery and at Safe Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. She has received both The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Grant and The Pollock/ Krasner Grant. Barbara is represented by Caldbeck Gallery in Rockland, ME.

Yellow Dots with Navy // Shaped fresco, 4 x 4 x .75 in., 2021, NFS

Lily I // Shaped fresco, 4 x 4 x .75 in., 2021, $300

Pink and Green Plaid // Shaped fresco, 4 x 4 x .75 in., 2021, $300

Tom Burkhardt // Shaped fresco, 4 x 4 x .75 in., 2021, NFS

Blue Sister 1 + 2 // Shaped fresco, 4 x 4 x .75 in. each, 2021, $600

Floral Sister Twins 1 + 2 // Shaped fresco, 4 x 4 x .75 in. each, 2021, $600

Top: Small Folded Jeans // Shaped fresco, 4.75 x 5 x .75 in., 2021, NFS Bottom: Large Folded Jeans // Shaped fresco, 6 x 5.5 x .75 in., 2021, $400

BARBARA SULLIVAN

“The very nature of clothing is tender because it is worn next to our skin. Shirts are inherently and metaphorically intimate particularly as they are close to the heart and the upper body. When folded, they evoke anticipation, they are intended to elicit “an unfolding” of our individual stories. The shirts are made using the age-old traditional technique of fresco, painting into freshly laid wet plaster with dry pigments which are ground in water. The process is laborious and has carried the presence of the hand through the ages. They are delicate and dear largely because of their size.” //

ANDREA SULZER Andrea Sulzer received her Master of Fine Arts from the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. She has had solo exhibitions at the Portland Museum of Art, Bowdoin College, and the University of Maine Museum of Art. She has exhibited at ICON gallery, in Brunswick, Maine over a span of about 20 years. Sulzer’s recent solo exhibition, once removed (2018), took place at Maurer Zilioli Contemporary Arts in Munich, Germany. In 2019 and 2020 she completed two large-scale public art projects (glass tile mosaics and murals) for Maine schools through the Maine Percent for Art program.

Top: sunlight, April 16, 2020, 6:41pm // Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 in., 2020, NFS Bottom: sinlight (pattern studies 1+2) // Charcoal, ink, acrylic on newsprint, 24 x 18 in., 2021, $600

Sunlight, April 16, 2020, 6:41pm (detail)

Getting Dark // Oil on canvas, 27 x 20.5 in., 2021, NFS

sunlight, April 16, 2020, 6:40pm // Oil on canvas, 27 x 20.5 in., 2021, NFS

dusk (pattern study) // Charcoal, ink, acrylic on Kozo paper, 34 x 24 in., 2021, $800

ANDREA SULZER

“From my studio overlooking the Androscoggin River in Maine, I make drawings, prints, and paintings. Sometimes these morph into objects. A desire to build a history with material, form, and ideas, alongside a determination to maintain an openness and freedom within this search, drives my work. It’s a constant pull between building a foundation and dismantling it, always trying to get closer to finding the underlying impulse for making things.” //

EXHIBITION IMAGES

UP NEXT AT SPEEDWELL WINTER 2022 RESIDENT // DEBORAH WING-SPROUL LING-WEN TSAI // March 11 - May 7, 2022 SUSAN BICKFORD: (STILLNESS) PROJECT // May 20 - July 2, 2022 SUMMER 2022 RESIDENT // LIZ RHANEY FALL 2022 RESIDENT // HEATHER FLOR CRON CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU // September 16 - December 30, 2022 featuring Lukaza Branfman-Verrissimo, Heather Flor Cron, Devon Kelley-Yurdin, Shoog McDaniel, Michelle Morgan, and Caitlin Rose Sweet. Curated by Faythe Levine.

SPEEDWELL CREATING A LASTING LEGACY FOR WOMEN ARTISTS

630 Forest Avenue Portland, ME 04101 Open Thu - Sat, 12pm - 6pm www.speedwellprojects.com info@speedwellprojects.com (207) 805-1835

Photo by Mercedez Mehling