- Ronnie Spiewak likes to walk outside and look closely at trees, twigs and leaves (on branches and on the ground), gathering ideas. In the studio she cuts shapes out of paper based on these ideas, improvising as she goes.
The tour-de-force wall collage above is the centerpiece of, It Happened One Night, Spiewak’s show at Harmony Hall November 7- December 27, 2013.
The colorful exhibition includes many collages showing Speiwak’s development over the last few years. In the earliest works the small pieces of collaged papers used in the collage are varied, many are printed and they include bits of newspaper, arranged on a page like print, underscoring the flatness of the page. Then she became interested in the twisting, linear growth of vines. In these collages, Spiewak jiggles the vine-like linear collage pieces into rhythms, and landscapes, skirting flat pattern and design although in some, the use of colored mattes flattens the images even more.
The collages have a lively spirit. The contradiction of the light weight materials and Spiewak's approach to collage as hard-hat construction gives an edge to the cut paper. She uses spring loaded scissors like a chain saw, carving broad sheets of paper into natural shapes which she then uses to build images. For the wall installation, she cut large leaf and twig forms in classic, silhouette style from black paper arranging them in a whorl on the stage-like wall and it’s proscenium wings at the end of the gallery. The silhouettes seem to swim in a common current and one almost senses that a wind will blow through and skitter them about. Spiewak found inspiration for this large work one morning early in the eerie quiet after a stormy night when she saw a carpet scatter of organic matter and leaves strewn over the grass.
While the installation has gravitas, most of the works are playful and colorful. The most recent collages show a beguiling synthesis of technique, composition, and jaunty rhythms resulting from the luxury of full-time studio work. For the last couple of years since her retirement fro the National Park Service, Spiewak has been at work in her new studio at Eastpines Center, Passageways Studio Studios, 6001 66th Ave, Riverdale, MD. -ccv, wdc
While the installation has gravitas, most of the works are playful and colorful. The most recent collages show a beguiling synthesis of technique, composition, and jaunty rhythms resulting from the luxury of full-time studio work. For the last couple of years since her retirement fro the National Park Service, Spiewak has been at work in her new studio at Eastpines Center, Passageways Studio Studios, 6001 66th Ave, Riverdale, MD. -ccv, wdc
RSS Feed