By Angela Valente Romeo
Joshua Tree Art Gallery or JTAG (www.joshuatreeartgallery.com) is a cooperative fine art gallery. This member-supported gallery highlights the work of over 20 artists working in various disciplines. From January 9 to February 6 the gallery will host an exhibition, Three Women/Three Stories.
Three Women/Three Stories brings the work of Barbara Drucker, Barbara Spiller and Tobi Taboada together. Each woman, while working in different medium, complements each other to tell a unique story. The show presents an opportunity for these artists to delve deeper into their individual work and for viewers to learn more about the creative process of each woman.
Barbara Drucker’s (www.barbaradrucker.net) exhibition is entitled Threading the Needle. Barbara studied and teaches at UCLA. She works in mixed media, painting, documentary video as well as photography. “You are not tied to a specific medium,” noted Barbara. “You are tied to the development of your ideas. If the ideas need to be expressed in a three dimensional way or two dimensional way, you will find the way.”
“Threading the Needle is tracing a memory. It is past and current work threaded together by a common feeling tone tracing memory,” stated Barbara. “I work with thread. I work with braids. I am creating an environment. The hair joins my childhood and my life in Greece. The current work reflects the influence of the desert, its light and space. But underneath is still the connection of my childhood and my life today.”
“Because this exhibition includes 16 pieces of work produced over a span of about 20 years, it is an opportunity for the viewer to understand the evolution of an artist,” continued Barbara. “My focus has changed throughout my life, and this show brings a part of that evolution to the public, “continued Barbara.
Barbara Spiller’s (www.barbaraspillerarts.com) exhibition is entitled Intention and Chance. “This is my continuing investigation of the random events and configurations on the desert floor. I work in encaustic print. It is a medium given to taunting the intentional with the accidental, “ joked Barbara. “Like Barbara Drucker I am not pinned to a specific outcome but more involved in the process of creating the work.”
“I photograph pattern and chance arrangement in nature, often it is simply what is under foot. These images become the stimulus for the work, the intention. Encaustic mono print falls into the same element of chance. The materials, hot plate and fluid colors of wax, which print and leave traces for instance, always have the potential for unforeseen reactions.”
“The fun and excitement is the randomness of the work. The whole discovery, chance and unknown, is what drives my creativity! I will be showing three groups of prints. Anthills inspire one group. Rare puddles in the desert inspire another group. The third group comprises simple, isolated rock shapes set against the carpet of the desert floor.”
“The show allows the viewer to see small changes and the impact of small changes over a body of work. This exhibition is an opportunity to sensitize a viewer to these subtleties.”
Tobi Taboada (www.tobitaboada.com) is the third woman joining the exhibition. “A Voice in Winter is my exploration into the combined world of encaustic wax medium and handmade paper to create three dimensional installations inspired by the palette of winter.”
“This show is an opportunity for us to express ourselves, collectively and individually. These are conversations between the three artists as well as the work of each artist. A Voice in Winter is a metaphor and opportunity to create within the stillness of the season, an opportunity to see how the ideas play out within the use of the medium of paper and wax and then again within the context of space, the volume that the work itself resides in. To observe how the space itself both expands and contracts visually. The impact on the artist is what I take from that process of moving through,” stated Tobi.
“A Voice in Winter began with commissioning the paper to be made, then moving toward the dialog between the two mediums. Next came the integration with the larger gallery space, then resolution of the various parts and a kind of settling out and completion of the process.”
“Process and truth is actually what joins all three artists in the show,” declared Barbara Spiller.
Three Women/Three Stories is an opportunity to see how art influences these women and how these women influence art.
