Each speck of blood flowing liquid through your veins is filled with the heavy element of iron, and the pieces of the innards of plumbing fixtures coursing through your house are also made of a fixed concoction of elements — be they metals or plastics.
But what they have in common is a connecting narrative thread — of the relationships between civilization, nature and physical laws — ideas that we’re only just beginning to understand.
Those relations can be synergistic but they also can be downright hostile.
Pictured Above: Bill Albertini and Ellen Wiener at the opening for Metafloric, with Albertini’s “100 Crumples” in the background
Curator Glynis Berry has a great eye for these themes, and it was her idea this fall to invite artists Ellen Wiener, known for her intricate studies of the natural world, interwoven with text and stories of the rise and fall of civilizations, and Bill Albertini, known for his use of digital imaging and 3D printed objects as a commentary on the natural and built environment, to put together a new show at East End Arts.
The exhibition, “Metafloric,” is on view at East End Arts’ Andy Tarshis Fine Art Gallery at 48 West Main Street in Riverhead through Oct. 10, when a closing reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m.
Neither of these artists shies from exploring the ethical implications of these natural and manmade relationships.
“It was Glynis’s idea to do this show — her thinking was that it would highlight the contrast in materials and means, and the similarity in content,” said Ms. Wiener at the opening Sept. 12.
Ms. Wiener’s work has taken her around the world in search of rare plant species, evidence of decaying civilizations, and the elements of the earth’s crust, five prominent ones of which are highlighted in this show in a series of innovative multimedia pieces that jump out of the pages of sketch books.
The work builds on Ms. Wiener’s large-scale folding book, “Wind School,” also in this exhibition, which explores these five elements.
“Iron is so ubiquitous, but this is about making iron personal,” she said at the opening. “Why not? It’s in our blood.”
Mr. Albertini described himself as a ‘city person,’ but he grew up on a farm, which informed his explorations of nature.
His high-tech materials have to work hard to mirror natural forms. In doing so, they put us in awe of what nature organically produces.
In this show, elements of his “Pipe Dream System,” of bronze infused stainless steel, bioplastic and wood, seem to almost ache to become truly natural forms, while “Save As,” a series of blue resin designs, seem alternatingly to mimic the intricate bones of articulating human joints and the parts of specialized robots working on assembly lines.
Mich Miller, the new head of printmaking at East End Arts, was Ms. Berry’s assistant curator on this show, and he will curate his first show at East End Arts, “The Print Continuum,” opening at East End Arts’ downtown Riverhead galleries on Oct. 24.
Ellen Wiener and Bill Albertini will select the works in the juried portion of that show.
“I like that this show is a through line to something else. It really was a pleasure working with them. Their work is so strong,” said Mr. Miller of the Metafloric artists. “The materially of both of their work feels like it’s really pushing the mediums and asking the right questions. What can an object do or be? What can a book do or be? They both make work that holds you for a long time. You have to stop and take a closer look. They both are working in such different mediums, but have a lot of overlapping themes. Both also, I think, have similar belief systems. They can see more together.”
Concurrent with “The Print Continuum,” on view through Dec. 13, Mr. Miller is organizing a Steamroller Printmaking Festival on Saturday, Nov. 7 in downtown Riverhead.
Riverhead Town is bringing a steamroller to the festival to make prints from large-scale relief blocks. So far, 13 artists have signed up, and Mr. Miller is hoping to have as many as 30 participants.
“I’ve done a ton of printing with a big press, but this is the monster truck version of it,” he said. “There’s a huge array of what printmaking can be, and what it has been.”
To learn more about all of these projects, visit eastendarts.org.
— Beth Young
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