September 6th to 28th
Mother and daughter Sue and Natalie Kassirer are showing their work together for the first time. They work in disparate mediums: Sue a sculptor in clay and Natalie a pen and ink artist with a background in illustration, but they share a common thread in the representation of emotion through earth-based imagery. The Heart and The Harrows speaks to both the passion and the pain involved in the creation of their art — these emotions either drive the message a piece seeks to convey, or feature as the subject of the work itself.
Of her work, Natalie says: “Representational imagery to illuminates my own personal stories, in combination with a labor-intensive and meditative stippling technique as a way to steep myself in whatever it is I aim to convey.”
For Sue, motherhood is a strong influence on how she views the current state of politics and the enviroment. “While I retreat to nature for solace and take great inspiration from the expansiveness of it, I fear for it. My fear can be seen in my subject matter, and in sharp bristling hardware contrasted with the soft colorings of smoked clay.”
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 6th, 5-8pm, during Amherst Arts Night Plus.
About Natalie Kassirer:
Natalie is an illustrator and fine artist specializing in intricate pen-and-ink stippled drawings. The wild landscape of Western Massachusetts inspires her work, which deals with a deep reverence for the natural world and its ability to turn death into new life, often influenced by a love of pop culture and music. Natalie received her BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School Of Design in 2015. She is an avid nester and collector of everything from bones to stones to house plants, and spends her free time exploring the hills of Western Mass or loitering in coffee shops.
About Sue Kassirer:
Sue has been creating sculpture and installation art for over 30 years. She most often works with clay but likes to mix things up and make time for theater projects and site works. Lately her work has become edgier due to environmental threats and fractious politics. She loves the inspiration she gets from the streams and rocks tucked away in the hills and fields of the Pioneer Valley. She earned a BFA in Sculpture from UMass in 1981 and has exhibited her work in the Boston area since the early ’90s. She has owned and run a teaching studio for 18 years and is a member of the New England Sculptor’s Association and a co-founder of the outdoor art show “Art Grows Here,” which runs annually each summer in Hamilton and Wenham, MA.