Rivers

KHN Center for the Arts presents “Rivers” –collaborative and individual works by Lori Elliott-Bartle, Marcia Joffe-Bouska, and Tom Quest. On display March 11 thru April 26, 2019, a Gallery Talk will be held on March 21 at 5pm in conjunction with KHN’s monthly Third Thursday Artist Talks.

KHN’s new exhibition, "Rivers," features collaborative and individual works by Omaha and Council Bluffs-based artists Lori Elliott-Bartle, Marcia Joffe-Bouska, and Tom Quest. River, the exhibition’s anchor piece, undulates, shimmers, questions, and documents connections to place and memory as it makes its way along 23 linear feet. The mixed-media collaborative work combines ceramic, glass mosaic, textured and hand-printed papers, maps, acrylic and oil paints, found objects, and beeswax as it explores ideas about ways we define the landscapes we inhabit. Elliott-Bartle's expressionist painting flows past Joffe-Bouska's glass tiles and found objects, while Quest's ceramic work adds naturalistic texture all in various forms.

In addition to River, the exhibition also features individual works by each artist, as well as the team’s first collaborative work Rivers, Roads, Remains. Created in 2015, this 60x40 mixed media work explores connections between nature and manufactured structures along the Missouri River near Omaha and Council Bluffs. Each of the artists continue to create individual works around the rivers theme as the growing exhibition will be presented at the Norfolk Arts Center, December 2019 – January 2020.

Lori Elliott-Bartle focuses on aspects of landscape, especially the prairie. Each day, she looks at the patch of big bluestem growing in her small, urban front yard to remind her of the resilience and subtle beauty found in grasslands. Her work is often abstract, and she uses a wide range of materials and techniques including mixing softened beeswax with oils and pigments and applying many layers, creating paintings that hold depth, complexity and texture.

Marcia Joffe-Bouska's mixed media artwork is vibrant with color, pattern and texture—quite different from the airbrush paintings of her early career. She incorporates glass mosaic, fused glass, found objects, and traditional and nontraditional materials and techniques. Rich in symbolism and visually arresting, Joffe-Bouska's artwork is complex and layered with meaning.

Tom Quest is a multi-media craftsman specializing in clay. His forms and molds are hand-made, allowing the clay bodies to take various shapes. Additionally, his stamps are crafted through wood burning and carving. Tom explores how textures integrate with form while experimenting with glazes to further enhance the topography of his works. His organic shapes and forms are reflections and abstractions of the natural world.

KHN Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment.