Artists Breathe A Sigh Of Relief In CAW Exhibit

Vasilisa Gladysheva’s potted plant at first looks precarious, perched on the edge of its podium, but that’s the point. The piece is, in a very real sense, about balance. There’s tenuousness versus serenity. There’s the combining of the whimsical and the functional, while also having something to say about the thoughts of the mind, or perhaps imagination. Is the figure in the vase sleeping and dreaming the plant into existence? Or is it about how all thoughts can grow? Regardless, what is clear is both the artist’s playful intentions and the skill with which the piece is made.

Melting Face is an apt introduction to ​“Art in Relief: New Works from the CAW Studios,” up now at the gallery at Creative Arts Workshop on Audubon Street through Aug. 23. The title of the art exhibit is meaningful, as the artists in the show are currently taking classes at Creative Arts Workshop. This, however, doesn’t make them beginners. The strength of the exhibit overall shows that the participants in CAW’s classes are, as often as not, working artists already, who are further honing their practice, or perhaps exploring new skills. The exhibit thus shows one way in which New Haven’s artists continue to learn from one another.

A case in point are the weaving pieces coming out of the studio of Lucianne Coifman — among them, pieces by Alexandra Kelly and Donna Batsford, who is a thoroughly established weaver in her own right and the point person for the southern region of the state for the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut. That advanced weavers continue to study with Coifman is a testament to Coifman’s mastery of the art form, but the pieces themselves also represent a dialogue, between Coifman and the participants in her class, and among the classmates themselves as colleagues.

Likewise, sculptor Sherry Block may have created Door Knobs with Rods in instructor Ann Lehman’s studio, but Block is herself a CAW instructor; members of her studio have work in the show as well.

It’s also possible to catch some formal dialogue — whether accidental or not — between some of the pieces, even across media. Nan Adams’s piece depicts a solid structure that she then imbues with a rough-hewn humor, right down to the title of the piece.

Sculptor Beverly Waters may have different aims; the titles of the pieces suggest that Adams is looking inward while Waters looks to the cityscape around her. But even with very different materials, Waters arrives in a similar place, using strong, simply geometric shapes to make the pieces and then giving them a lot of texture, giving the piece an energy not unlike the city itself.

Mostly, however, ​“Art in Relief” is about celebrating the breadth of activity happening at Creative Arts Workshop these days. Keith Richter’s photograph is unreal enough to at first appear entirely generated by computer. Was it an image Richter heavily manipulated, or was it a trick of the light? Either way, it captures a bit of the quiet surreality we can find almost anywhere if we look.

Sheila Rostow’s charming illustrations of cloudy and sunny days seem on one hand a commentary on the ability to predict the weather; it’s possible that her flipping through the images is about as accurate a way to forecast rain as anything else some weeks. But it’s also an an invitation to let go, to stay in the moment and let the days drift away as easily as one might turn the pages of Rostow’s book.

Or — perhaps most fitting of all for these long hot days — there’s Beth Klinger’s pottery, opening like a flower but with the glossy intrigue of the interior of a shellfish. The piece, Klinger informs us, isn’t for sale. But we can view it for the rest of the month, and see echoes of it on the beach.

“Art in Relief: New Works from the CAW Studios” runs at Creative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon St., through Aug. 23. Visit CAW’s website for hours and more information.