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Cutting-edge artwork on display at Center for Women |
| By
Vicki L. Kroll |
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Jan 10, 2006 |
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Mary F. Gaynier and Veronica Kaufman are two sharp Toledo artists. Both use razor blades to create their works.
Gaynier wields an X-acto blade to craft intricate paper cuttings, and Kaufman uses a razor blade to draw in her mixed-media projects.
Their two exhibits, “Paperworks” and “Fourth Dimension,” respectively, are on display through Feb. 24, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women, located in Tucker Hall Room 168. A reception with the artists will be held Thursday, Jan. 19, from 5 to 7 p.m.
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| Winter Term by Mary F. Gaynier |
Five years ago, Gaynier discovered Scherenschnitte — the art of paper cutting — while making snowflakes during the holidays.
“A pleasant diversion became an obsession, and my simple designs evolved into a more complex mix of abstract patterns and images of everyday life,” Gaynier said. “I developed more refined cutting skills using an X-acto blade instead of scissors while maintaining the basic circular or ‘snowflake’ form.”
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| "And the Crowd Goes Wild" by Mary F. Gaynier |
The resulting detail is mesmerizing. “Winter Term” shows students walking in front of University Hall. A football game in the Glass Bowl is depicted in “And the Crowd Goes Wild.” A closer look at this piece reveals fans everywhere. And in “Celebration,” a crowd watches a marching band in a parade as fireworks explode behind skyscrapers.
“I enjoy watching people examine my work, first from a distance where they might see a more abstract rhythmic pattern, and then up close, where they’re surprised to find a scene of a bustling city or a child at play,” Gaynier said.
There also is an element of surprise for the artist. “I don’t know exactly what each cut paper design will look like until I unfold it after all the cuts have been made,” Gaynier said. “That unexpected element of my work keeps it fresh and exciting for me.”
And that’s a good thing, considering how much time Gaynier puts into her pieces. She said the smallest cutting she has done was three inches in diameter and took about 10 hours, and the largest was 14 inches in diameter and took more than 100 hours. “The size I’m most comfortable working with is 11 inches in diameter, which takes me about 60 hours to complete.”
The 1989 UT alumna hopes to work in larger formats in the future.
While Gaynier’s work is precise, Kaufman’s art is abstract.
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| These mixed-media pieces by Veronica Kaufman are part of her exhibit, Fourth Dimension." |
“I’m working with ceramic and abstract images, trying to show movement, depth in space,” Kaufman said. “I use pastels and also regular wax crayons and apply both media and sand them. Then I use a razor blade to draw, almost like a sculpture. The pastels aren’t like regular pastels; they’re not that heavy. It’s worked right into the paper. That kind of goes along with the ‘Fourth Dimension.’ It’s sculptural.”
She counts Russian sculptor Naum Gabo as a major influence.
“With ‘Fourth Dimension,’ I’m going back in 1920 to Naum Gabo, who said art was moving into another dimension,” Kaufman said. “It was a time of technology, Einstein’s theory of relativity. I’m going along with what he said about time and space.”
Taken in as a whole, her dream-like works may transport viewers to another place.
“You have to see the works to experience it. Some people say it feels like you’re under water,” Kaufman said. “When I was drawing, I was thinking of going through a path of flowers.”
She added, “Different people will have different experiences. I hope it puts people into a mood that’s pleasant. People just like to sit and take away a mood of peacefulness and nature. I hope nature comes out of the works.”
Kaufman received a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture from the University in 2003 and is pursuing a master of liberal studies degree.
For more information on the free, public exhibits, call the Center for Women at 419.530.8570.
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