Central College welcomes the works of Elizabeth Rhoads Read, fiber artist, to the Mills Gallery. Read uses simple materials such as paper, discarded fabric and abject items to create organic sculptures. Her exhibit is on display until Friday, Sept. 20.
Brian Roberts, professor of art and 1992 Central graduate, curated the exhibit.
“I saw her work at an exhibition in Cedar Rapids a couple of years ago and was really intrigued with the complexity of forms and textures that she created from relatively simple materials,” Roberts says. “We bring in unique art and artist exhibits to broaden our students’ perspectives and invite curiosity.”
The assemblage of rearranged fragments and their relationships of the parts is Read’s style. Her eye for composition and compulsion for texture invoke the sense of recesses and secret hiding places — spaces that pull one in for shelter. According to Roberts, her pieces create illusive light, interspersed space and speculation beyond the boundaries of the medium. Her philosophy is to immerse herself in textures and tones to express the intensity of human emotions.
Her current work is continually evolving, informed by her experiences and mediums she encounters. To Read, art is everywhere and if the viewer is open to that profound belief, the simplicity and directness of her materials and techniques are refreshing in this complicated world.
Read graduated from Cornell College with a degree in art and political science. She has spent over 50 years creating, exhibiting and teaching art. Her work has been exhibited and is included in both the U.S. and abroad. A reviewer wrote about Read’s work, “(it) recalls the late post minimalist artist Eva Hesse in its combination of minimalist sensibility with abject items.” Read currently lives and works in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Mills Gallery, Lubbers Center for the Visual Arts on Central’s campus, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The gallery curates exhibits throughout the academic year to expand opportunities for students to experience artistic styles and cultural interpretations.
