Neno Villamor’s Show Opening at Edgewater Gallery

Featured Artist, Neno Villamor, creates cast handmade paper

Friday, October 7, from 5-8, and continuing through Oct. 26

Edgewater Gallery, 356 N. Main Street, Fort Bragg

Join us for First Friday to celebrate the work of Neno Villamor. Masks are optional. Light refreshments served. Admission is free.

In her own words:

I’ve been sculpting since I was a 13 year old teenager. Often hiding away in my bedroom that I shared with the washing machine; playing in ceramic clay, creating miniature animals figures, that my teachers at school would fire in the kiln for me. As I grew in my abilities my figures grew in size and expanded to the human form.

When I was finally able to attend college I continued working in clay making hand built sculptures and adding wheel thrown elements to my figures. I later became interested in metalsmithing and while creating wearable art I still continued developing my sculptural abilities; this time using the technique of Chasing and Repoussé, which starts with a flat sheet of metal and utilizing shaped metal tools and a bed of pitch, stretches the metal; working it from both sides to create an image. Human features were my subject matter much of that time.

When I started teaching I became interested in paper and its ability to hold a shape other than flat. I discovered that paper could be cast in a mold made from an original modeling clay sculpture or over that same sculptured image for a reversed/ concave image, and once dried would retain that shape. I started out with low relief images built up on sheets Plexiglas and from them made single sided molds. Those images could be framed and hung on the wall. Later I developed a technique for making multiple piece molds from an original freestanding sculpture to be able to create freestanding castings.

Sculpting has been the thread that has tied all my exploration of various materials together throughout my life as an artist.

My castings are done in my own blend of handmade paper from industrial hemp and Abaca (banana) fibers. Since I can recreate the image from a mold, I only make a new casting of a piece on demand and each one is embellished differently from the others that have been created before. This also allows my clients to request specific color palettes and embellishments for that image. Creating in this manner is referred to as Multiple Originals.

My show this October will have a Halloween feel to it with the addition of some of my freestanding cat sculptures being embellished in the style of Oaxaca or the Sugar Skulls seen during the Day of the Dead celebrations. There will also be some skull, cat and owls ornaments done in the same style.