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Bonnie Meltzer
very mixed media |
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BIOGRAPHY & MEDIA
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Scroll right to see the Links hroughout the vitae take you to an article or an exhibit page on another site. |
tABOUT BONNIE MELTZERa Something exciting happens when diverse elements rub up against each other. Many years ago at a surplus store on the same day, Bonnie Meltzer discovered the intrinsic beauty of computer parts and magnet wire -- the shiny, colorful and very flexible, enamel coated copper wire used in motor windings . It seemed only natural to her that the two materials should marry in her work. From that day on found objects and crocheted wire became the bases of her highly textured wall works and sculpture. Computer parts and other found objects are used as beads, armatures, textures and vehicles for metaphor and symbolism. The crochet doesn't play second fiddle to the found objects but in work that has so many disparate elements it links it all together visually and sometimes even structurally. Objects stimulate her imagination and push the idea flow. A globe is a different stimulus than a garter. They give her a symbolic, visual and verbal vocabulary in which to frame an idea. She mixes objects, painted wood, digital photographs and crocheted wire to create complex surface textures and to increase the nuance of content. The multi-levels of materials and ideas can give both a serious and a humorous component to her work at the same time. She uses ordinary objects as metaphors that reflect both social commentary and personal history. Global warming, elections, economics, and land use balance out identity and personal reflection themes. Meltzer lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon in a cottage with an outbuilding studio in the yard. Both are surrounded by an enormous organic vegetable garden. EDUCATION |
ONE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS (highlights). Art in Rural Storefronts: Temporary mural on DLF International Seed warehouse, Halsey, Oregon 2016 First Unitarian Church: Identity, Portland, Oregon 2016 Eastbank Commerce Center: Evoking Memories, Portland, Oregon 2015 ! Art in Rural Storefronts: Rain Makes the Grass Grow, Sponsored by the Corvallis Art Center, storefront installation in Brownsville, Oregon 2014 Astoria Fiber Arts Academy: Astoria, Oregon 2014 University of Portland: Portland, Oregon 2014 Scrap: Portland, Oregon 2011 Beet Gallery: Portland, Oregon 2009 Onda Gallery: Portland, Oregon 2008 Albina Community Bank: Portland, Oregon 2006 White Sturgeon Gallery: Water Resources Education Center Vancouver, Washington 2005 Contemporary Crafts Gallery: North Window Installation, Portland, Oregon 2005 Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center: Portland, Oregon 2003 Contemporary Crafts Gallery: Portland, Oregon 2002, 1972, 1971 Guardino Gallery: Portland, Oregon 1999 Oregon Museum of Science and Industry: “About Faces”, Portland, Oregon 1989 Portland Children’s Museum: “Zipperpillar Park” commissioned installation, Portland, Oregon 1986-88 GROUP EXHIBITIONS (highlights) |
. | Group Exhibitions continued Portland Open Studios at Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon 9210, 2009 Art Contemplates Industry online 3 locations Clackamas County Oregon, 1 year, 2009 Portland International Airport, Pacific NW Sculptors Portland Oregon 6 months 2009 Corporate Waste into Art Portland City Hall, Portland Oregon 2007 Recycled Art Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem , Oregon 2006 Crocheted Wire Jewelry Mobilia Gallery at SOFA, Chicago Illinois 2006 Sustaining Change on the America Farm Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, Washington 2006 Instruments of Art Sponsored by the Community Music Center at PNCA, Portland, Oregon 2006 Transformed Chairs (curator & participant) Portland City Hall, Portland, Oregon 2006 Rhythm of Crochet, invited artist, national traveling exhibition sponsored by Crochet Guild of America. 2003 12” x 12” Mark Woolley Gallery: Portland OR 2003 Textile Techniques in Metal Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge Massachusetts & SOFA, Chicago Illinois 2002 Crochet: Ancient Craft, Contemporary Art Fine Line Art Center: St Charles Illinois 2001 Chain Reaction (invited artist) Textile Arts Center, Chicago Illinois 2000 Young Americans Museum of American Craft, New York 1969 |
COMMISSIONS (highlights, non-residential) Oregon Episcopal School, Drinkward Center for Math, Science and Technology Wall sculpture made with recycled objects from the school; 10 student apprentices, Portland Oregon 2012 Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. Awards for agency recycling excellence, Brattleboro Vermont 2010 Travel Portland Sustainability Award made with found objects and given to Portland city Commissioner Saltzman 2008 Pavelcomm, Corporate Waste Into Art Lobby sculpture made with objects from Pavelcomm's waste stream. Project in conjunction with Cracked Pots and NW Business for Culture and the Arts 2007 Northwest Business for Culture and the Arts Awards for corporate giving to the arts made with found objects, Portland OR 2005 University of Washington, School of Business A gift from the first Executive MBA graduating class, Seattle, Washington 2000 National Science Foundation A gift from the Oregon Graduate Institute, Arlington Virginia 1999 Community Music Center large crocheted tapestry, RACC grant, Portland Oregon 1975 COLLECTIONS (highlights, non-residential) BOOKS & ARTICLES (highlights) |
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VIDEOS & TELEVISION PROGRAMS (highlights)
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ART WORKSHOPS & LECTURES (highlights) She is available to teach crocheted sculpture and found object workshops Museum of Contemporary Craft, Build a Collaborative Crocheted Sculpture Workshop, Portland, Oregon 2016 Pendleton Woollen Mills, 3D Crochet, Portland, Oregon 2016 Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Crocheted Sculpture, Otis, Oregon 2016, 2015 Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival, Crocheting Around a Core: Crocheted Sculpture, Canby, Oregon 2015 Oregon Episcopal School Portland, Oregon 2012 Mount Aloysius College Cresson, Pennsylvania 2007 Regional Arts and Culture Council, Business & Marketing, Portland, Beaverton and Oregon City, Oregon 2006, 2001 Fiber Art Center Amherst, Massachusetts 2004 Biocommunicators of America Conference, Keynote Speaker, Boston, Massachusetts 2004 University of Portland Arts and Business Seminar, Portland Oregon 2003 Alaska Artist in the Schools Allakaket, Alaska 2005, Nome Alaska 2002,Koyukuk, Alaska 1996 Bering Straits Art and Tourism Conference Keynote Speaker, Nome Alaska 2002 Handweavers Guild Conference Portland, Oregon July 1996 Oregon Journalism Conference Corvallis, Oregon 1995 Book Arts Guild Conference Portland, Oregon 1997, 1995 Surface Design Conference Portland, Oregon 1995 Idaho Journalism Advisors Conference Sun Valley, Idaho 1994 Crochet Guild of America Conference Seattle Washington 1999 National Education Computer Conference Seattle, Atlanta, San Diego, Dallas, Boston 1991-2000 NW Council for Computers in Education Conference various NW cities 1988-1997 Creativity Through Technology Conference Anchorage, Alaska 1993 CUE BC Conference Vancouver, BC 1992, Palm Springs, CA 1992 ArtQuake Portland, Oregon 1990-92 DaVinci Days Corvallis, Oregon 1989-91 Louisiana Tech University Ruston, Louisiana 1990 Michelson Reves Museum Marshall, Texas 1990 |
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