Works by Adrian College alumna and Lenawee County native Sarah Kandell-Gritzmaker will be on display in the Adrian College’s Shipman Library (Nicolay Heritage Room) Wednesday, January 12, through Friday, February 4. Kandell-Gritmaker graduated in 2006 with a B.F.A. in Art.
A self-described rock hound, Kandell-Gritmaker grew up visiting geologic landmarks and significant fossil sites in North America. In the work on display, ceramic sculpture hides fragments of text on and within forms inspired by geology. These serve as a metaphor for the disparity between private emotional states and public personas.
She explains, “Memories, thoughts, and ideas are often kept private in an attempt to avert judgment and discomfort. However, it is these unrevealed realities that often carry the most emotional weight…I transfer documents, journal writings, planner pages, and other personal information relating to the natural disorder of life onto geometric and tightly arranged clay surfaces.”
Her personal texts and ephemeral internal life become fixed in the clay; there, they invite viewers not only to discover them but to free associate from their own emotional lives and experiences. Her delicate, fragile forms often group into suspended networks with complex shadows, suggesting another duality of appearances and external reality.
Shipman Library is located on the Adrian College campus off of Williams Street. The exhibition is open during library hours: Monday-Thursday, 8:00am-11:00pm; Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm; Saturday, 10:00am-5:00pm and Sunday, noon-11:00pm. For library information, call (517) 264-3828. A campus map can be found at http://www.adrian.edu/about/campus_map.php .