By Zirrus VanDevere, for the Redoubt Reporter
“It’s a Piece of Cake” by Carol Walkiewicz.
I’ve never really liked cake. It might be genetic, because my kids have never really liked it either. The only exceptions to that rule for me are if the cake actually resembles healthy food, or if the chocolate is deep and dark and therefore obviously nutritious.
This year’s Experimental Exhibit at the Kenai Fine Art Center, the fifth annual, has as its theme “Cake,” and I’ve found there are, in fact, a few pieces that I find nutritious.
Connie Tarbox has hung a multitude of pancakes, cleverly coated in some sort of varnish to preserve them, from a big golden wheel. The “cakes” cascade down over another partially golden wheel, giving the whole piece a magical and rhythmic nature. I found that getting close to the work and looking up gave me a wonderful sense of vertigo.
The fanciful nature of all of those streaming gold lines made me feel I was bordering on a new dimension, or at the very least a crazy production or play. In her artist’s statement she declares simply, “Life is a
thrilling but tenuous journey … allowing for hope in our anxiety.”
Carol Walkiewicz’s “It’s a Piece of Cake” lists as its “ingredients” the following: cake, toilet seat, glass, frosting, nuts. She has built a large,
“Hanging By a Thread” by Connie Tarbox.
elaborate cake out of toilet-paper rolls and added frosting, which otherwise might actually seem appealing. The toilet holds the missing piece, leaving the viewer to ponder the hidden implications. It amuses me that she has utilized the completely ordinary addition of nuts. For me, it says something about our nutty and schizophrenic society, the consumption and defecation of meaningless and empty-caloried experience.
“Life is Uncertain — Snap-Crackle-Pop,” by Joyce Cox, is an interesting compilation that reaches skyward in all of its shininess and funk. A shredded tire is at its base, and rice cakes offer an occasional organic respite. I think it was Carl Jung who discovered that little boys build towers, while little girls tend to build circular structures. The androgyny of Cox’s entry has me intrigued, although the tire seems to be the only irregularly shaped expression, and I often like to see a little more of that in found art sculpture.
Kathryn Zerbe presents another altar, this time with a wire figure and baked goods that turn immediately creepy in the context. She calls it, “Millipedes and Old Lace.”
Apparently there was an element of performance art included in the opening reception festivities, where reception guests were asked to skewer cupcakes onto a collaborative piece. And there’s a box where you can write down your favorite in the show to help decide the People’s Choice Award.
It doesn’t need to be the most nutritious entry for you, just the one you liked best.
Zirrus VanDevere is a local mixed-media artist and owns Art Works gallery in Soldotna. She has bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and education.
