Rivers

River undulates, shimmers, questions and documents connections to place and memory as it makes its way along 23 linear feet. The mixed media collaborative artwork by Lori Elliott-Bartle, Marcia Joffe-Bouska and Tom Quest 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 and in multiple moments. The piece anchors the “Rivers” exhibit, which includes collaborative as well as individually created works by each of the three artists.

The team first collaborated in 2015 to create Rivers, Roads, Remains, in which they explored connections between nature and manufactured structures along the Missouri River and in the metropolitan Omaha/Council Bluffs area. Using old maps as well as the design of the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge, the artists riffed on shapes, textures, colors and materials to create the 60”x40” mixed media piece.

Their latest collaboration, River, is the result of a year spent taking the initial ideas and work in Rivers, Roads, Remains and creating a new body of work. Each artist expects to continue creating individual pieces that support the themes of this show and also will pursue opportunities to collaborate. The group is scheduled to share this exhibit at the Norfolk Arts Center in December 2019 through February 2020.