Next up to adorn the walls at the Fred Simon Gallery are new works by artist Camille Hawbaker. Fresh from a two-person show at Darger HQ, Hawbaker continues in the Nebraska Arts Council’s gallery space with a solo exhibit called Love is a Rippling Circle.
Hawbaker is known for her manipulations of words and phrases, often sourced from personal journals, that use flourished embroidery, print-making techniques, and unconventional tools such as fire, to produce complex graphic works that often leave the words far behind. From her artist’s statement: “I create, destroy, and reconstruct to echo the act of journaling without the baggage of existing imperfect language.”
In this new exhibit she examines building a constructive, positive message from originally negative words and phrases. Whereas social media provides the immunity and anonymity to freely tear others down, Hawbaker’s new calligraphic excursions go beyond the initial impact of the words alone, striving to find the positive; something that “directs us where to go forward in life.”
Further information is available on the artists website, Camillehawbaker.org, and at artscouncil.nebraska.gov. The Fred Simon Gallery is located in the Nebraska Arts Council offices, 1004 Farnam Street, Lower Level. The Opening Reception for Love is a Rippling Circle, which continues until Dec. 29, is Friday, November 3rd, from 5 -7 p.m.