The story of Turlock’s Carnegie Arts Center is one of renewal and renaissance. From the ashes of fire in 2005, a new entity was born in 2011. In celebration of the 10th anniversary season, a juried exhibition featuring representations of the four elements: earth, water, air and fire opened this week.
For centuries, these four archetypal elements have been used to explain the nature of all matter. Many ancient cultures—Greece, Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, Japan, Tibet—had similar understandings. These elements each carry unique properties and symbolic meanings. At some level, all may be seen to have a relationship to the concept of rebirth and growth:
· Earth is the physical matter, the terrestrial world and the changing seasons; this extends to representations of mother nature and fertility.
· Water is a source of life, and is often associated with the qualities of imagination and intuition; it can also be a purifier and the giver of new life.
· Air can represent wind and weather, as well as the breath and the spirit in all living things; to start anew we may “breathe life” into something.
· Fire is the element of passion and energy, but it is also included in myths of purification and rebirth – like the phoenix – where destruction and growth go hand-in-hand.
Artists from throughout California were invited to submit their work for this juried exhibition. Fifty works were selected by juror Dr. Hope Werness, Professor Emerita, CSU Stanislaus Art Department, author of “The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in World Art and The Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art.” The exhibition covers a wide variety of media including painting, photography, glass, ceramics, fiber arts, prints, drawings and collage.
AWARDS
Grand Prize $500: Larry Lew, Spring Runoff, color photograph
Awards of Merit $250: Ann Bailey, Piecing it Back Together – California Wildfires, mixed media painting; Carolyn Lord, February Aqueduct, oil on linen
Honorable Mentions $50:
· Sean Alcala, Elemental Crisis, kiln-formed glass
· Linda Cararie-Marble, Rain Drop, color photograph
· Scott Lundgren, Sunset Irrigation, color photograph
· Cheryl Martin, Paradise Point, mixed media
· Michael Souza, Ascend/Descend, pencil on paper
ARTISTS INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBITION:
Sean Alcala, Salida
Ann Bailey, Turlock
Anna Barber, Ripon
Linda Blackwell, Turlock
Linda Cararie-Marble, Oakdale
Tommi Lou Carosella, Modesto
Susan Conner, Altaville
Randy Crimmel, Modesto
Jennifer Fosgate, Merced
Barbara Gill, Modesto
Don Hall, Turlock
Carolyn Huff, Modesto
Kate Jackson, Merced
Alexander Kelley, Los Banos
Kristin Kessey, Ahwahnee
Carol LaMott, Denair
Jennifer Landau, San Francisco
Alice Lessard, Merced
Larry Lew, Modesto
Tanya Lin, San Francisco
Carolyn Lord, Livermore
Scott Lundgren, Turlock
Cheryl Martin, Turlock
Cathy McCrery-Cordle, Coarsegold
Annie Hopkins Milne, Los Angeles
Jessica Polly, Turlock
Alexander Quinones, Modesto
Tara Schendel, Turlock
Claudia Silva-Doo, Aptos
Michael Souza, Turlock
Henrietta Sparkman, Modesto
JC Strote, Lodi
Louise Sugiyama, Manteca
Leslie Thompson, Oakdale
Evan Young, Sonora