West Tisbury’s Bricque Garber will display her collages at an opening on Saturday, July 15, at Cousen Rose Gallery in Oak Bluffs. Garber’s work is titled “The Year Considered,” and the reception for her work will take place from 6 to 8 pm.
Garber’s reception will include a jazz combo of saxophone, keyboard, and upright bass played by M.V. Regional High School students. (Also performing at the gallery during the summer is Adele Dreyer, a Juilliard-trained classical pianist.) Garber’s collages include a few dozen abstract assemblages. In one case, she has created a colorful mix of Martha’s Vineyard cottages, and another is titled “Dusk.”
“I experience the year as summer to summer, and my artwork follows that calendar,” Garber explains in an email sent to The Times. “A quiet patio studio in a small Greek village was the origin for ‘reference points’ as snaps of the crazy past year. A plethora of feelings, hopes, and fears laid out in small bites of color and texture … I was and am overwhelmed with the losses of human rights everywhere. Women have become a target for many. The ‘She’ series has continued at pace. Women standing together; watching and waiting and yelling into the void.”
“The artwork is what makes it new,” says gallery owner Zita Cousens, and it features epoxy, collage, and abaca. The art that was featured on July 8 will continue to be on display. It includes Meg Black’s abaca sculptures, based on unique banana fibers that produce impressionistic abstractions. The final product uses painted and textured surfaces that are rich in color. Also on display are Virginia artist Rayhart’s limited-edition giclée prints, which feature abstract-oriented figures. He describes his work as “poetry put to paint.”
Dr. Robin Gottesman’s sports photographs will remain on view. Her images of Martha’s Vineyard also include such themes as mist over water, the setting sun, and Lucy Vincent Beach’s boulders. In addition, she has employed drone photography as a licensed drone pilot to create landscape images.
Patricia Littlefield produces abaca-based papermaking. Both her painting and fiber backgrounds are reflected in her collage constructions. Littlefield’s work is made from abaca that is hydrated and beaten into pulp. The pulp is dyed and placed in small containers. Paper pieces are formed by placing layers of colored pulp over each other. Twigs, reeds, Tampico grass, muslin, and other materials are sandwiched between layers of pulp. The images start out as digital photographs, which are downloaded onto the computer and combined and adapted in various ways to coordinate with the paper.
Most of the colors and compositions are derived from observation of the environment: mountains, sky, buttes, and adobe architecture, as well as garden and field flowers. “When I discovered weaving and then papermaking, a whole new world opened up for me,” Littlefield says. “My hope is that each piece gives you a lifetime of pleasure and thought-provoking observation.”
The gallery also features three one-of-a-kind collections of jewelry. In addition, the gallery will offer a book signing of “Black Women Will Save the World” by April Ryan. “Most year-round galleries will do three exhibits,” Cousens says. “I do new installations once per week.”
Cousen Rose Gallery is open seven days a week through September. “I’m still as passionate as I was when I first started,” Cousens says.
Cousen Rose Gallery, 71 Circuit Ave., Oak Bluffs. Visit cousenrose.com.
