Oct. 6–Nov. 15, 2014. 
Opening Reception: 5 - 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8


TACOMA, Wash. – On view at Kittredge Gallery for the month of October and first half of November is a dynamic exhibition of related, but distinct, recent work by Puget Sound faculty members Janet Marcavage, associate professor of printmaking, and Elise Richman, associate professor of painting.

Ripple and Unfold explores their shared interests in pattern and visible process, juxtaposing Richman’s paintings, drawn from natural forms, with Marcavage’s prints, which investigate the manmade, both deliberate and accidental.

Janet Marcavage is interested in patterns created by the warp and weft of fabrics, as well as the shapes and folds created at random when textiles are draped or dropped. She has noted: “My hand-pulled prints celebrate the topography of textile pattern imprinted upon daily life. … Observing and drawing from striped and gingham fabrics, I enjoy the way that these patterns shift meaning based on the form in which they take, such as the form of a table, girl, man, or laundry pile.” Beyond the textile patterns themselves, Marcavage is interested in the underlying systems of how lines are used to construct images and how lines and colors interact to create spatial and optical illusions.

“In some of these prints,” Marcavage has noted, “I explore repeated line with color temperature shifts at the edges. In other works I investigate moire effects—visual vibrations that occur when lines are rotated and printed again. The rotation of lines results in a third pattern and a new combined color where the lines intersect. My formal approach is to create a simultaneous building of both surface pattern and form, an abstraction reduced down to only these elements.”

Marcavage is associate professor of printmaking at University of Puget Sound. Her prints have recently been collected by the King County Public Art Collection, as well as by ArtsWA. She has had solo exhibitions at Zhiguan Gallery in Wuhan, China; in Tacoma at Icebox Contemporary and the University Gallery at Pacific Lutheran University; and at other national and regional venues. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the International Print Center New York, Lisa Harris Gallery and SAM Gallery in Seattle, the Qijiang International Print Festival in China, the Museum of Modern Art in Wales, and The Wuhan Art Museum in China. She holds a B.F.A. from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and an M.F.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Elise Richman draws her inspiration from natural forms. Her recent series references water, the movement of which she has observed in the natural world through aerial photographic images, Google Earth, and in the more controlled studio environment, where she generates ripples in a wave tank. She notes: “Water’s dynamic fluidity, relevance to political and social issues, and rich optical effects inform my work. Water is a visually rich element, a transparent volume with a mutable surface. Its physical properties and pertinent conceptual issues operate on optical and metaphorical levels in my paintings.”

The work on view in the exhibition is from a series titled Ripple, inspired by the circles that expand out from a single drop of water falling into a shallow pool. Richman’s painting process embodies the connection between her observations and the forms they take in her work. “The width of the Ripple paintings’ striating lines is determined by the width of the various brushes that I use to apply handmade oil paint,” she writes. Richman also uses a variety of paint mixes and densities, as well as application techniques, to create the rich color shifts, contrasts, and atmospheres in these works.

Richman received her B.F.A. in painting from University of Washington and her M.F.A. in painting from American University in Washington, D.C. She has exhibited her work on both coasts in commercial galleries, nonprofit spaces, and university galleries, including the Katzen Center and Addison Rippley Gallery in Washington, D.C.; SOIL Gallery, Gallery 4 Culture, and the SAM Gallery in Seattle; and the Woolworth Windows, Fulcrum Gallery, and the University Gallery at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. She currently is exhibiting at Willamette University’s Rodgers Gallery and will be part of a group show, Borderlands, with four other painters at SOIL next month.

Richman engages with visual art in multiple roles, through community involvement in University of Puget Sound’s Race and Pedagogy Initiative, through writing about artists and painting practices, and as an associate professor of painting at University of Puget Sound. She is the recipient of the 2014 Greater Tacoma Community Foundation Art Award.

A reception for the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m., in Kittredge Gallery. This reception is free and open to the public. Both artists plan to attend.

Kittredge Gallery serves as a teaching tool for the art department and a cultural resource for both the university and the community at large, exhibiting work by noted regional and national artists. Exhibits and talks are free and open to the public. Please note: The gallery will be closed Monday, Oct. 20, and Tuesday, Oct. 21, for fall break.

Opening Reception: Oct. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m., Kittredge Gallery

Gallery Location: University of Puget Sound, N. 15th St. at N. Lawrence St., Tacoma, WA
Directions and Map: pugetsound.edu/directions
Regular Hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Mon.–Fri.; noon–5 p.m., Saturday 
Website: pugetsound.edu/kittredge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kittredge-Gallery-University-of-Puget-Sound/196528434086?ref=hl

PRESS PHOTOS are available at pugetsound.edu/pressphotos
Photos on page: Top right: Ripple II, by Elise Richman; Above left: Untitled (blue), by Janet Marcavage.