Jenkintown artist, Teresa Shields has always pushed boundaries with her fiber works, but the pandemic helped nudge her into an exciting new direction. Fans of her fine, detailed embroidered fruits and vegetables, as seen recently at The Art Trust, may see her new work as a departure but it really fits nicely into Shields oeuvre.
Her solo exhibition “Appendages” at Gravers Lane Gallery is aptly titled. It features dangly felt pieces sculpted into organic shapes that jut out from their bases. The time to produce this work came during quarantine when Shields was able to harness skills she picked up in 2016 at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. When asked how much of a departure the felting was from her embroidery work, Shields said, “It started out with looking at cell structures and structures in nature. Instead of just looking at the inside of a tomato, I’m now looking at seed pods, so that was the bridge to this work.” Shields added “I look at plant forms, geometry, colors, cell structures, bones and more to see the underlying connections what these things have in common. By using math to calculate shrinkage of wool fibers and partially-felted shapes, I reverse-engineer geometric or biomorphic three dimensional sculptures.”
Shields credits her Penland instructor Lisa Klakulak, saying, “She was the right teacher for me. I wanted to understand it and she’s the kind of teacher who wants you to know what she knows. She keeps no secrets and gives it all to you.” After nailing the sculpting down, Shields used a mounting idea she had cooked up years ago with contractors hired for a home renovation. “The guys all had art degrees. I learned a lot about wood from them. One day I showed the project manager a little wood square I was toying with and he said, you should put a magnet behind it.” The idea of inserting magnets to the back of custom cut wood disks as well as inside the felt sculptures gave rise to an array of mysterious extremities which can be configured into endless arrangements.
Shields mentioned a scene from the series “The Queen’s Gambit”, “The character lays in bed at night using the ceiling to envision her moves on the chess board. I lay in bed at night and use the ceiling to lay out my felt designs. I’m always thinking about it.” Regarding color, Shields likes to use those that are next to each other in the rainbow, gradations of one color and she’ll pair opposite colors too. A good example of gradations is Shields’ stunning necklace on display in the gallery. She makes little felt earrings too.
Gravers Lane is the perfect location for her work. The gallery has been featuring fine craft since it opened in 2010. Bruce Hoffman became the director in 2012. He’s been active with the Philly art scene as an artist, writer and curator since his early days at The Works Gallery in Old City. Hoffman met Shields several years ago when she and her husband purchased an engagement ring from him. “Then about four years ago, I was asked to jury a Cheltenham Art Center show. She came in and thanked me for choosing her work for it and I said, what are you talking about? I didn’t know you were an artist. She didn’t want to show me her work. From then on, I told her I wanted to show it.”
“Appendages” is on view through March 22nd at Gravers Lane Gallery in Chestnut Hill. Contact Bruce@graverslanegallery.com to make an appointment for a one-on-one conversation with Shields. Visit here for gallery hours. This show will also be featured during Craft NOW”s virtual First Friday Preview on Thursday evening from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Nastassja E. Swift, an artist in the show highlighted last week, “Making Marks: Figural Identity, Transfiguration and Receptive Tactility” at Pentimenti Gallery, will be on board too, presenting her fiber sculptures. Click here to join the Zoom.
Closer to home: Square Pear Gallery is hosting the Philadelphia Water Color Society (PWCS) Board Member Show this month. PWCS is one of the few water color societies that accepts "works on paper" to include watercolor, pastel, charcoal, graphite, acrylic, gouache, colored pencil, pen/ink and hand pulled prints. Artists include Radhika Srinivas, Madeleine Kelly, Carrie Cheunge, Jeanne Gunther, Denise Vittolo, Judith Hummer, Jane McGovern, Candace Zacher, George Gallatig, Joe Milligan, Frank Wengen and Diane Keesee. PWCS was founded in 1900. Past members included George Bellows, Violet Oakely, Maxfield Parrish, Howard Pyle, John Singer Sargent, Jessie Wilcox Smith, N.C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth to name just a few of America's leading watercolorists. Visit here for details.
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About Constance McBride
A native of Philadelphia, Constance McBride lived in Arizona for 16 years, where desert observations made a transformative impact on her work as a research based visual artist. Passionate about contemporary art, she was actively engaged in the local arts community. She served as a board member for several art organizations, managed an artist collective/gallery space, curated and juried several exhibitions and wrote for two arts publications in Phoenix. She taught ceramics at Shemer Art Center and Museum and exhibited her work both locally and nationally. McBride returned to Pennsylvania in 2018 and resides in Chester Springs with her husband and two dogs. In West Chester, she serves as a board member at The Art Trust Gallery at Meridian Bank and teaches ceramics at Chester County Art Association. She also teaches at Clay on Main in Oley, PA. She is a member of American Craft Council, Philadelphia Sculptors, and Women’s Caucus for Art, Philadelphia Chapter.
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