SoPas Gallery to Feature Works by Weinzettle, Ciccone

Beginning February 3rd, works by Joan Weinzettle and Melanie Ciccone will be on view at SoPas Gallery of the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. The art on view consists of textile quilts as art and mixed media collage inspired by the textile arts.

Representing the efforts of each artist as an individual, as well as several unique collaborations rarely seen in gallery shows, the works reflect both artists’ sensibility of “profound” recycling, an informed love of process, and the manifestation of a unique creative dialogue.

The artists’ own statements reflect the genesis of these scintillating visual creations in a process of experience that, although unique for each of these two women, channeled their energies and aesthetic directions onto a path that brought the two together in this creative collaboration. Both artist’s are, or have been, quilters, and share a sensibility of quilting as art-making, thrift, and discovery.

For Weinzettle, who took a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1985, the process of art making has been more formal, in the sense that the desire has been directed by education and purpose.

For Ciccone, the process was more traditional and naïve… evolved from a lifetime of sewing and a love of fabric as surface.

The two met in the South Pasadena schools where they each had children in attendance. The discovery of their mutual passion for textiles was cemented by the subsequent discovery of a common inspirational source…the abstract quilts of Gee’s Bend…now a part of what Weinzettle (courtesy of Jonathan Lethem) would call the “Ecstasy of Influence” that informs the exciting works in this show.

This show is the first public exhibition for Weinzettle in 12 years. It is the first public showing for Ciccone. There will be a reception for the artists in the gallery at 1121 Mission St. on the 7th of February, from 5 to 8 PM. The public is encouraged to attend.

The work will be on view February 3rd through 28th. The gallery is located at 1121 Mission Street. Hours are Tuesday through Friday 10am to 5pm, and by appointment. For more information, or to make an appointment for viewing, contact Tom Field at (626) 799-8546.