January 2009
"Winter River Circle" by Ann DiSalvo
River Circles
The Madrona Arts River Circle Group displays their River Circles, created from recycled fabric, yarn, and gathered natural fibers. This on-going community project aims to produce one River Circle for each five miles of the Klamath River, with the intention of raising awareness of the many diverse issues of the Klamath River Basin. One-third of the sales of River Circles will be donated to The Tribal Environment and Fisheries Programs through Madrona Arts. Specific information is available on the Madrona Arts website.
"A Graceful Stream of Song" by Alexander Alexis
Singing the Mystery
Alexander Alexis shows his collection of “Singing the Mystery,” life size wooden sculptures of singing “beings.” The inspiration for these pieces came to Alexander one morning while in his studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“I received a truly ‘desert’ vision. I saw a room full of tall, standing, singing beings. Overtaken by their presence, I decided to make what I understood to be ‘bodies’ (sculptures) for the beings who had sung to me. Being predominately a stone sculptor, I realized I would have to invent a way to make these pieces, because they absolutely wanted to be made of wood. Wood grows down into the earth and then up into the heaven – wood bridges heaven and earth. In this way it is just like we are. And they had to be made as big as we are so we would resonate with them.”
Alexander estimates that the multi-step process involved in creating each of these sculptures required about 40-60 hours. The result is a luminous finished piece, possessing a translucent metallic “skin” which ages and glows.