Gallery’s summer exhibition showcases five artists’ work

For nearly a decade, five Pennsylvania-based artists have met monthly to support and critique their works-in-progress. This productive and inspiring exploration of the creative process has built trust and respect. Their works will be on display in “Five Artists: Explorations and Conversation,” running June 4 through July 24 at The Gallery at Penn College.

A reception is set for 2 to 4:30 p.m., Sunday, June 8, with a gallery talk at 3 p.m. The event and exhibit are free and open to the public. The gallery is on the third floor of The Madigan Library at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Meredith Eachus Armstrong, Elizabeth Z. Bennett, Jean E. Downing, Peggy Blei Hracho and Cecilia J. Rusnak share a commitment to using textiles as an essential element of their work and employ a variety of techniques, including hand and machine stitching, photographic processes, upcycling, painting, dyeing, printing, surface design, collage, assemblage, and embellishment.

Their collective work has a range of themes and styles: representational, abstract, landscape, imaginary and remembered places, ancient scripts, creatures, and portraits.

During the artists’ monthly give-and-take sessions, they help move their work forward by asking questions, giving feedback, and discussing possible resolutions to both artistic and technical problems. The critiques encourage them to explore options, extend boundaries and take risks. Each has found this collaboration to be invaluable.

A Danville resident, Armstrong has worked with textiles as a creative medium her whole life. In her recent work, she explores themes of time, memory and landscape through mixed media fiber art. “Layering, manipulating, dyeing, painting, stitching and playing result in works sometimes calm and expansive, sometimes whimsical, sometimes evoking specific places or memories, always bringing the personal and universal into conversation,” Armstrong writes.

Bennett, of Furlong, uses cloth and thread to evoke the beauty and mystery of the ancient world. Her work incorporates dyeing, surface design, piecing, and expressive machine and hand stitching. Trained as a historian, she once assembled fragments of written and material evidence; now she assembles pieces of cloth, stitching them together in abstract compositions to tell a story about the past.

From Bloomsburg, Downing sheds light on social issues while delving into the depths of memory. Family history, especially immigration, serves as a foundational theme in her creative journey. Her studies in natural dyes, spinning, weaving and basketmaking have informed her collage style. She masterfully blends the ordinary with the unexpected, using repurposed vintage garments and upcycled materials.

Hracho’s work in fiber covers a wide variety of themes and styles. Using bold, saturated color, her pieces may incorporate the female figure, flora and fauna, or text. With the goal of creating a rich, dense surface, the Reading resident works her pieces with intense amounts of stitching, using both hand embroidery and machine embroidery techniques.

Rusnak’s work is a decades-long experiment to deconstruct and express a sense of place. While textile, broadly defined, is her primary medium, the State College artist also uses a range of materials and techniques, including paint, pencil, collage and photography. Rusnak finds inspiration in the material culture around her and in the elusive making process.

Summer hours at The Gallery at Penn College are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; and 1 to 4 p.m., Sundays. (The gallery is closed Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays and will also be closed July 3-7.)

The gallery is a cultural asset to the college and local communities, providing the opportunity for appreciation and exploration of contemporary art and encouraging critical thinking and meaningful experiences.

For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.