October 1 – November 14, 2009
Saturday, October 17 – Reception and Catalog Signing 5 – 7pm
gallery talk at 6pm
Rebecca Kamen, Divining Nature: An Elemental Garden, installation detail, size variable,Mylar and fiberglass, 2009 Photo credit: Terry Lowenthal
The Greater Reston Arts Center presents Rebecca Kamen’s Divining Nature: An Elemental Garden, a sculpture installation inspired by the periodic table of chemical elements. Kamen transforms the arts center’s octagonal gallery into a spiral garden of luminous, white “flowers” representing the eighty-three naturally occurring elements. Each flower is comprised of white Mylar tiers supported on slender fiberglass stems. The number of tiers (or petals) corresponds to the element’s orbital pattern while the number of stems is based on its electrons.
While Kamen’s garden of elements transforms the arts center’s main gallery into a floating sea of pagoda-like forms, in an adjacent gallery the artist uses the geometric forms of the Platonic Solids to create wall-mounted sculptures inspired by the five original elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Cosmos. Kamen is well-known as a sculptor and educator who creates thoughtful bodies of work based on science. Her unique process, based on wide ranging research into science, cosmology, spirituality, and philosophy yields sculptures that begin with complex concepts and transform into distilled objects of refined beauty.
Another hallmark of Kamen’s process is her keen interest in collaboration. In addition to the important association resulting in the soundscape by Susan Alexjander, the artist joined forces with architect Alick Dearie to develop a precise installation layout based on mathematic principles. Dearie’s elegant drawings are included in the exhibition catalog documenting the installation.
Choreographer Jane Franklin, who is well regarded for her unique collaborations in unusual locations, will present an evening of dance within Divining Nature on October 21st.
Greater Reston Arts Center
12001 Market Street, Suite 103
Reston, Virginia 20190
703.471.9242
www.restonarts.org
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