I was honored to receive such articulate and attentive coverage in Gazette reporter Carolyn Brown’s July 9 article on “There Goes the Neighborhood/His Room as He Left It,” our July two-person exhibit (“‘It was my secret project’: Easthampton artist’s exhibit at A.P.E. Gallery is a ‘waiting room between life and death’”).
I’d like to shine more light upon my co-artist Judith Klausner’s exquisite and nuanced work.
I can’t help but laugh when I see her toy army men wielding a leaf blower at a littering of giant paper oak leaves, or their weapons against the ring of handcrafted mushrooms surrounding them. I then remember this work is not only hilarious but deadly serious — an overly manicured lawn (or approach) can amplify the norm and expected, tamping down the curious, surprising, and diverse.
Klausner’s work shows us the dandelion’s taproot, the bee in the clover, the perseverance of the plantain, and I’m reminded why our pieces sit harmoniously together: hers sings of regeneration while mine’s humming about reincarnation, both with an emphasis on the resilience of each unique human spirit.
Ariel Kotker
Easthampton