“Conversation Pieces” by Amy Applegate, Naomi Carr, & Lynette Sauer
Friendship can take many shapes and forms all the while manifesting itself in ways that create an unprecedented ponderance. Perhaps even at times these friendships twist and twirl into an almost symphonic aesthetic that demands (politely, of course) a level of communal creation and conversation. Leading their viewers into such a conversation this month in Hank and Dolly’s Gallery are artists, and friends Amy Applegate, Naomi Carr, and Lynette Sauer. After having met in a painting course at Herron School of Art, these three aspiring artists continued taking classes together over the next two years. Applegate explained, “Although we had not collaborated before this fall per se, we were very familiar with, and even involved in each other’s art practices. This gave us a great foundation when we did start to work collaboratively.”
The work of Applegate, Carr, and Sauer was born out of the time they shared together creating, communing, and conversing. Three of their pieces, featuring similar abstract elements, were formed over a span of three months as the three artists committed themselves to working together each week. According to their shows statement, “These pieces demonstrate our interest in individual expression with a shared structure.” The pieces shown in their show are based on ideas that were spawned from individual conversations and have become “examples of visual interactions—both in the way they were created, and are displayed.” By spending time together, these three friends let their respective works and processes inform, and inspire their work together.
“We’re friends, and the amount of time we were able to spend just talking was definitely a benefit of working together collaboratively. We worked on the oil paintings simultaneously in 30-minute sessions. After every 30 minutes we rotated canvases, allowing each of us to work on each painting for the same amount of time as we reacted to each other’s work,” Applegate explained, “The large pastel drawing is the product of a collaborative drawing performance from the opening night of the show. During the performance each of us wore a ‘drawing harness’ that strapped the three of us together shoulder to shoulder. The two of us on the outside gave instructions- one up and down, the other left and right- while the person in the center made marks according to their instructions. We rotated positions throughout the performance.”
Feeding off and thriving off of each other, Applegate, Carr, and Sauer show their viewers the power of community in the midst of the creative process as they demonstrate the depth of influence found in relationship.
“Conversation Pieces” by Amy Applegate, Naomi Carr, and Lynette Sauer hang through December 26th in Hank and Dolly’s Gallery.