"Dualities" A New Exhibit at Gualala Arts

“Dualities” is a new exhibit in the Elaine Jacob Foyer at Gualala Arts. Opening Friday, April 8, the exhibit showcases the works of two artists—Gabriel Babcock and Roberta Monte James. “Dualities” continues through Sunday, May 8, 2022. Gualala Arts is open every day from 11 am to 4 pm.

Nature is vulnerable and fragile, yet also unyielding and perdurable. The “Dualities”  exhibit highlights these two extremes by pairing the strong media of stone and wood with the softness of fiber art, and presents them in a way that causes the viewer to see how one extreme informs the beauty and the value of the other.

Ceramic, stone and wood are materials of lasting strength and support. Art rendered in these media can project a feeling of permanence. Cotton, silk and other such fibers are materials that are fragile by comparison. They may project a feeling of vulnerability, but they also carry a connotation of comfort and warmth. The artists present their work in a way that encourages the viewer to see how one extreme informs the beauty and value of the other: The comfort of quilted fabric seems especially vulnerable in the enduring presence of stone and wood.

The pieces in this exhibit, while diverse in terms of media, are parallel in purpose. Collectively, this exhibit addresses both the timelessness and the vulnerability of nature. Both the individual pieces and the paired exhibits have been created with a sentimentality that reveres our forested landscapes and natural resources. The clean lines and natural curves in all of the pieces are strikingly similar, and speak to each other in unexpected ways.

Gabe Babcock is an established sculptor, who does site specific public art commissions as well as gallery exhibits. He has done solo exhibitions on the West Coast as well as exhibited in national juried exhibitions throughout the US. Using stone, wood, and clay as his mediums, Babcock prefers to work in materials local to the area, providing the community a way to form a deeper connection to the art. He resides in Colusa, California where he recently fixed an old redwood barn to house his work studio and show room, Salmon Bend Art Studios, a space designed to give local emerging artists a venue to have solo shows, gain experience, and see their work in a professional setting.

Roberta Monte James is an emerging fiber artist and quilt-maker/designer. Her work is often informed by her surroundings, attempting to capture the simplicity, beauty and vulnerability of nature. Working in collage format by piecing fabric, and then overlaying her designs with stitching affords her the luxury of telling two stories within one piece. James is largely self-taught, but has studied with fiber artists Lisa Call, Sheila Frampton Cooper, and Jean Wells, and has attended seminars at Art Quilt Tahoe in Nevada, and Empty Spools in Asilomar, California.

The exhibit continues at Gualala Arts through Sunday, May 8.