Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Textured artworks are experiencing something of a moment. Whether it be collage, assemblage, or something in between, works that employ multiple pieces and varied layers are in vogue. For local artist Ann-Marie Gillett, such creations are second nature. She creates images full of tiny details and uses the unique medium of hand-painted tape in many of her artworks to add interest to surfaces. The results are fantastic and completely eye-catching.
Much of Gillett’s recent production is inspired by the flora and fauna found on and around her twelve acre homestead. This work is notable for its sense of clarity, perception, and depth. The botanical subjects of Gillett’s art come vividly to life through her craftsmanship. Through her mixed media creations, viewers are invited to engage with nature in new and unexpected ways.
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Gillett earned her undergraduate degree in art education at Rhode Island College and went on to pursue additional training in painting, ceramics and printmaking at Rhode Island School of Design, Bennington College, and Massachusetts School of Art and Design. Gillett has had a professional career that took her from running a freelance textile business to becoming a seasoned art educator. For thirty years she taught art at Wheeler School on the East Side and for eight she served as department chair. She also lent her expertise to help train students in Brown’s Masters in Teaching program for a decade.
Since winding down her work as an educator, Gillett has returned full-time to studio practice and her works can be found regularly in exhibitions throughout the region as well as in the inventories of art vendors ranging from True Grit Gallery in Middleborough, Massachusetts to Studio Hop on Providence’s Hope Street. A plethora of Gillett’s artworks, showing off her considerable skill, are on view throughout August at Sprout CoWorking at 166 Valley Street in Providence. On Thursday, August 18, a reception for Gillett’s show will be held from 5-8 pm, accompanying Gallery Night Providence.
On view at Sprout, visitors will find a rich sampling of Gillett’s work that is representative of her active artistic practice. Although the pieces on view vary slightly, the through line evident in the all is an almost obsessive attention to detail. There are plenty of tidbits to look at and to explore. Gillett’s artworks are best experienced in person and reward viewers that take a moment to look closely. Experiencing them is akin to seeing the natural world through Gillett’s remarkably creative eye.
Gillett’s exhibition opens with a collection of bright images chronicling the life cycle of wisteria vines on Hope Street. The tangled and alien forms of wisteria are set against a shock of yellow in this quartet of images presented on panels. Combining elements of drawing and collage, this series is part scientific illustration and part abstraction. Gillett’s tendency for keen observation can be found in these works and in all the artworks on view.
In another series, Gillett creates Bouquets using hand-painted tape, acrylics, and Posco markers on Yupo paper. The square panels are highly graphic but have a sense of continuity with other works in the show through their tight choreography. Gillett’s works are all created in a relatively small studio space, which tends to keep the scale of her work modest. The intimate size of many of her pieces is part of the strength of her practice. With pieces so full of minutiae one might get lost, but because these works are smaller they hold the viewer’s attention handily.
While Gillett’s main metier is her own brand of painted-tape collage-making, her current exhibition includes more straightforward work. One painting, titled Energy Unseen, is executed in acrylics and ink on Yupo paper. The effect is that of a swirling and liquid atmosphere with botanical elements that morph and shift. Other pieces like Orbs and its smaller counterpart Orbs II push into a still more abstract point of view, broadening Gillett’s preferred subject from recognizable plant life to something that borders on the spiritual or conceptual. All of the work on view shows off the artist’s expert hand.
Gillett’s work has won praise in a number of quarters and can be found in diverse venues. For those interested in collecting art, Gillett’s pieces are also accessibly priced, in spite of their highly worked quality. Of her own art, Gillett says, in part, “My work often centers on encounters with nature that are not grand or majestic, but the smaller things that demand a closer look and contemplation.” Gillett’s artworks mirror their subjects. They are thoughtful, engaging, and entice second glances.
Ann-Marie Gillett’s exhibition at Sprout CoWorking is accessible 9am - 3pm Mondays - Fridays. Sprout is located at 166 Valley Street Building 6M Suite 103. Ann-Marie Gillett’s artwork can also be found on Instagram at @ambogillett
Michael Rose is a multi-talented fine art professional based in Southern New England. Since 2014 he has served as the gallery manager at the historic Providence Art Club, one of the nation’s oldest arts organizations. Through his current freelance work he advises collectors and artists, provides appraisal services, teaches, and completes curatorial projects.
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Artist to Know: Ann-Marie Gillett - Inside Art with Michael Rose - GoLocalProv
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