The craft world is vast. A perfect demonstration of the medium’s scope can be found in “The Best of 2023” exhibit, continuing through July 8 at the Ohio Craft Museum.
Seventy-eight works in clay, glass, fiber, metal, wood and mixed media show the range of subjects, materials, techniques and moods that the artists – mostly but not all Ohioans – use and express in their works.
Mastering the material
In her dazzling, big fiber work “Button Jar Car,” Elyria artist Mary Ann Tipple has applied hundreds of buttons in shades of aqua to a family photo: Her mother at the wheel of a 1963 Oldsmobile.
James Mellick, of Milford Center, used cherry, walnut and sycamore wood to build his animated sculpture “The Guardians,” in which two ferocious dogs, fangs bared, lunge at each other.
Simplicity and clean lines are the mark of Granville artist Michael Rozell’s walnut and leather chair, “Deconstruction.”
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Emotions and moods
Susan Shie, a well-known fabric artist from Wooster, commemorates two 21st century women – former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and the lesser-known Ohio arts proponent Guenveur Burnell – in her quilt “Guenveur and Madeleine.” Included in the intricate and voluminous text that accompanies images is the information that the women died four days apart from each other in 2022. “They didn’t know each other, but they should have,” Shie’s script reads.
Columbus artist Sandra Aska goes to a dark and political side with her sculpture, “I’m Fine,” built of clay, railroad spikes, glazes and more. The black railroad spikes puncture the abdomen of a woman who has her shirt off.
“Reliquary for a Good Boy,” by Peggy Quinn, of East Springfield, Pennsylvania, is a Medieval-style receptacle adorned with images of a saint-like dog, a humorous satire on art history.
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Sheer elegance
In her simple porcelain bowl, “Early Morning Bamboo with Fireflies,” Columbus artist Brook Slobodien achieves remarkable effects. Inside her white small bowl, Brook Slobodien has placed several tiny dots. These dots are transformed into the pinpricks and fireflies in the title on the outside.
“Steel Kimono,” is a masterpiece of simplicity. Russell Stephanchick, of Cleveland Heights, has designed the Japanese three-dimensional garment with minimal lines but powerful effects.
The elegant “Persephone’s Necklace” is an asymmetrically designed piece of jewelry made of sterling silver and sunstones, with the latter resembling the pomegranates from the Greek myth. Jessica Mohl is an artist from Crawfordsville, Indiana.
Most of the pieces described above were awarded in this exhibit. Steve Smith (former art teacher at Defiance College) selected 78 of the 300+ entries. The award-winners, he said, produced the “wow factor.”
After it closes at the Ohio Craft Museum, “Best of 2023” will travel to the Wassenberg Art Center in Van Wert, Ohio, opening there on Aug. 31.
The At A Glance
“The Best of 2023” continues through July 8 at the Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. Fifth Ave. The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday, and 11 am to 4 pm on Saturdays. The admission is free. Visit ohiocraft.org or call 614-486-4402.