Paintings by Marcia Christensen & Laurie Olinder

July 3–August 13
Wed. - Sat. 10-2, Sunday 1-4
(closed 7/24–25, 7/30–8/2)
Village Players Theater, 51 Glendon Street, Wolfeboro, free admission

July 2, 4–6 pm : Opening reception with Artists

Marcia Christensen: The Fellowship of Women series

Masai Women Frowning by Marcia Christensen

In 1999 I traveled to Africa for the first time.  Since then I have been there about ten times especially working with the Ewe people in Ghana and traveling on safari to Kenya.  Recently my painting has begun to reflect my experiences as I have assimilated the feelings and impressions from my travel.  For the past year I have concentrated on painting women in relationship, both the Masai women from Kenya and the Ewe women from Ghana.  The Wolfeboro exhibit will be the first time the series has been shown as a unit.

In our culture where women are busy working and taking care of family, often the only close relationships with friends are work related.  This is a precarious basis for friendship in a society where people are constantly changing jobs either by choice or necessity.  In the workplace, relationships are often competitive rather than mutually supportive.  In the workplace, friendships are often stressed by involuntary terminations where one literally is asked to replace a friend.

How is it that the people in Ghana and Kenya, who live in such poverty and difficult conditions, can be so joyful?  Does the strength of their relationships make it possible for them to enjoy life?  In Ghana the women and men take time to have non work related friendships that are generally same gender based.  The women find support through laughter, sympathy, prayer, worship or faith.  They have very real problems that may be life threatening but because of their support network, they are able to survive and thrive.  Is there mental illness, sadness and depression?  Of course, but not to the extent evident in our culture. 

In The Fellowship of Women series, a repetition of pattern or color reflects the close relationship that exists among African women.  The clothing denotes the groups to which the women belong.  This wearing of symbolic clothing is common in both West and East Africa.  The color a woman wears in the Masai culture tells her native tribe.  The number of necklaces reflects her wealth.  I have used actual African trade beads in the pictures.  Wearing matching patterns is very common in the Ghanaian culture as well.  Everyone who is related to the deceased wears the same pattern to a funeral although the designs of the clothing may be different.  Women who belong to various clubs or church groups wear the same cloth.

In several of the pictures, the faces of the Masai women are in graphite while the clothing is in watercolor collage thus emphasizing the importance of the group rather than the individual.  The Ghanaian women’s faces are painted because the unity of the fabric is more pronounced. 

In Ghana clothing is often printed using adinkra symbols.  These are traditional images which reflect truths.  For instance, if someone wears the image of the crocodile, one is showing the world that he or she is someone who is adaptable (able to live on the land or in the water).  Many of the images are more abstract but their meanings are well known to the Ghanaian people.  Sometimes I include these symbols as background for the paintings of women to emphasize a particular theme in the painting.  Because I don’t want them to dominate the images of the women, the symbols are usually monochromatic cutout collages.  The red background on the Masai paintings refers to the blood and milk which the essential part of their diet.  Red is also an indicator in identifying a Masai.

Blue Circles by Laurie Olinder

 

Laurie Olinder: Blue Circles

Laurie Olinder's "Blue Circles", an installation of drawings done in blue ink on various sizes of square paper each pinned in the center to a black wall, evokes celestial galaxies, solar systems, weather patters, crop circles, flowers seen from above, cross sections of stems, bones, veins, organs, as well as molecules and atomic structures, Olinder seems to be categorizing or collecting specimens of the wheel-within-wheel motif which can be found on all scales throughout the universe. The ambiguity of relative size speaks to the fractile structure of the cosmos. These drawings could also be the abstract symbolic chalkboard notations of a physicist visually exploring the hidden forces effecting all matter; the ontological rules of universal growth and form.

Her installation at once presents to the viewer a dizzying gaze into the remotest parts of inner and outer space while simultaneously gratifying the eye with the simplicity of her individual mark making and unique touch.