Ruth Marshall: Knitting the Endangered
Ruth Marshall’s creations weren’t inspired by visits to art galleries or at a university class, but by working at the Bronx Zoo.
Marshall is an Australian-American contemporary textile-knit artist, whose vivid hand-knit replications of endangered animals remind us of the threat they face and the importance of wildlife conservation. Her work will be spotlighted in a solo exhibition opening this Sunday at HAM.
Marshall worked at the Bronx Zoo as an exhibition sculptor for 14 years and became very concerned about the plight of endangered animals. While on the job, she had a daily reminder of one such threatened creature.
(Above: Ruth Marshall, Caldwell’s Chinese Tiger (detail), 2011, Hand knitted with yarn sponsored by Lionbrand, string, sticks, Courtesy of the artist.)
Kay Kenny: A Poetic Tribute to the Rural Night
Kay Kenny has enjoyed a busy career as a photographer, teacher, painter and critical writer of visual arts. She has curated several exhibitions and her work can be found in an array of corporate, museum and private collections.
And it all began with a class at the Hunterdon Art Museum. (Above: Kay Kenny, Full Moon Rising, 2015, 22 in. X 28 in., Courtesy of the artist.)
Kenny was eight years old when she won a scholarship to HAM. She’d climb aboard a bus in Flemington for the trip to the charming stone mill on Lower Center Street where she’d learn from Anne Marsh, a highly regarded painter and a founder of the Museum.
“I was ecstatic: traveling on my own, learning from a master, absorbing each moment until I thought I would burst. I decided from then on ‘I will be an artist!’,” Kenny said.
Kenny will return to HAM as an artist with her own solo exhibition showcasing her outdoor photography.
Catherine Suttle: Spaces and Structures
Catherine Suttle’s paintings encourage audiences to appreciate the little things that are all around us but sometimes fail to notice.
“My paintings reflect my conviction that beyond the obvious, there are nuances and subtleties to be seen and appreciated,” Suttle said. “They give my paintings their character, their personality. I enjoy the unexpected and the awkward, and my paintings are experiments in seeing how I can figure out ways to incorporate those qualities into a satisfying whole.”
The Frenchtown-based artist’s solo exhibition, Catherine Suttle: Spaces and Structures opens this Sunday.
The title reflects her most recent abstract work which combines atmospheric areas—spaces—with elements that appear solid and opaque—structures. It also refers to the subject of a series of small landscape paintings that feature shed-like structures, Suttle said.
Above: Catherine Suttle, Interior 1, 2018, oil & oil pastel on linen. 30 in. x 24 in., Courtesy of the artist.
