Since humanity learned something about fire, about its properties of heat and light, and then learned something about how to preserve fire, and then, finally, how to make it, we have cherished it in the hearth of our dwellings. And, since then, we have been making shapes in the shadows – first with our hands, and, later, with cut-outs, projected sometimes against rock, against walls of natural rock shelters. We chose to fix the shadow, making the images permanent, on the walls of caves with mineral and vegetable paints.

 

As in her works that were exhibited previously at the William Busta Gallery, Julie Friedman creates cut-outs in Tyvek, an industrial material with unusual properties. It is thin, and yields easily to cutting, but firmly resists tearing. Cut-outs are one thing in bright and even light, and then quite another in contrast – bright light and shadow.

 

Julie Friedman describes her work poetically and concretely: “Tyvek and a knife are used to create this installation. With cut paper imagery the silhouette is stressed, the essence of the shape is its strength. Simplicity is paramount. A Greenhouse for Life is fragile yet durable. It creates a paradigm of the plant forms that give life and make it beautiful. There are magical and mundane images. Cast shadows create another world inside and around the structure. Being surrounded by this flat, silhouetted and bold imagery takes the viewer into the realm of a known world and leads to a path toward the unknown and the newly created.”

 

In the context of her work, Friedman speaks of memory–of her memory, and the memory of people who have responded to her work. Often, people tell her of early memories, of their mothers or fathers asking that they sit as an artist cuts their silhouette in black paper. It was something that was saved.

 

William Busta Gallery

2731 Prospect Avenue

Cleveland, Ohio 44115

williambustagallery.com

gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11 to 5:30

Don Harvey, contemporary images / November 21 to December 27

Thomas Frontini, paintings / November 21 to December 27

Wendy Partridge, books / November 21 to December 27

Brinsley Tyrrell, orgy pots / November 21 to December 27

Todd Schroeder, paintings / November 21 to December 27

Jeff Chiplis, sculpture / January 2 to February 14

Darius Steward, painting / January 2 to February 14

Julie Friedman, installation / January 2 to February 14

Timothy Callaghan, painting / February 6 to March 7

Taryn McMahon, prints & Installation / February 6 to March 7