Opening reception: Friday, April 5, 5 – 8 p.m. Brief Artist Comments: 6 p.m.
April 4 – May 5, 2013
Gallery hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 12 – 6 p.m.
Identifying
Birds and Relationships is a debut solo exhibition for New Hampshire
artist Andy Moerlein at Leich Lathrop Gallery. This show features Moerlein’s
ceramic birds, wood sculpture and prints.
Moerlein’s
work has a storyteller’s attitude - that tightrope walk between naturalism and
symbolism. Ceramic birds fill branches and stones with a communication that is
evident yet ambigous. Some snuggle together; others turn their backs to each
other. The birds seem ordinary - an embodiment of stillness - frozen in place.
Yet each conveys a gesture that implies movement. These birds are prone to
startle and fly at any moment.
Moerlein’s
birds are a mix of authentic and exceptional. Real feathers festoon the rather
generic small birds. Wood “stones” and complex branches complete a scene that
suggests the interruption of an event. “My birds are steeped in presence. I
express my human story with small birds as actors.”
The
prints selected to hang with this show are similarly avian predicaments. The
birds are often familiar, some even authentic in colors and pose, but they have
an attitude that suggests dialogue.
There is no doubt that Moerlein has observed birds closely, but the
images suggest his focus is on human relationships.
Shadow Play 2013 wood, ceramic, stain Proposal 2013 monoprint, colored pencil
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