Differing media, common vision: Show featuring sculptures by Kún and Burchard closes Friday, Oct. 31
By Art Van Kraft for Ashland.news
Two Ashland area sculptors have created “a unique and dynamic” exhibit, according to the one of the visitors at an artists’ talk at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford Saturday, Oct. 25.
The exhibit, which closes Friday, Oct. 31, showcases large, elaborate wood sculptures that appear to defy gravity. Those are the work of artist Christian Burchard.
Not to be outdone, artist Kristy Kún displays one of her brightly colored abstract wool sculptures. The two artists collaborate on ideas, but in separate studios and using different materials.
Burchard, born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1955, said he left his family over a feud.
“I wanted to work with my hands, not sit behind a desk. My father never used that skill, he was a lawyer like his own father and he sat at his desk all day. I didn’t want that, I wanted to work with my hands. My father never respected that work, so I left my family to become a furniture maker. That job gave me the foundation I needed,” he said.
After a series of world travels from Australia to China and the Middle East, Burchard found his way to Ashland in 1982. He opened a studio and slowly shifted from woodworking to wood sculpture.
“Back then, Ashland was the least American town I’ve ever been in and I loved it; of course, that was then — now it’s a little different, but I still love it, mostly,” he said.
The artist has also taken his ideas outside the studio and into the classroom. He created a nonprofit woodworking program at Ashland High School.
“I believe in the hand-brain connection. I worked with kids in an Ashland High School program I put together. Every other morning, I worked for an hour and a half with students. You put kids in a wood shop on the lathe and they relax and smile. I have an ADD kid, too, and I found that kids should not have to only sit in a chair and talk and read for hours. They should be able to walk around a bit. You need to move to think. You have these kids whose parents say, ‘He just doesn’t want to learn.’ I’ve found that moving around helps you think,” Burchard said.
Kristy Kún is the second artist featured in the show. She creates large, colored and abstract-shaped felt sculpture that is designed to hang on cables. The work in unique and in high demand.
“It’s hard for me to create a body of work because my stuff sells so quickly. I really enjoy the sculpting and shaping of the piece. The dyed textile is moist and has some starch in it, then I ‘m sculpting it and shaping it. When I get the shape I want, I put fans on the piece and dry it,” Kún said.
Kún originally started sculpting in wood, but a chance event changed that. “In 2009 I began the transition from wood to wool,” Kún said. “My lifestyle changed; I had a quieter environment.”
Kún explained that the new work prodded her to start a small fiber import business, Opulent Fibers. Kún also has a collaborative work relationship with her partner, Christian Burchard, and is combining her felting with Burchard’s woodwork projects.
As the crowd of people circulated around the gallery, two people stood back and regarded the show with equal optimism and professional interest.
Emily Santiago has a lot of experience with galleries as the former owner of the Gambrel Gallery on East Main Street in Ashland.
“This is one of the best shows I’ve seen at the Rogue Gallery. I love this kind of work, abstract art. I always wanted to show her work, but she doesn’t do many shows, her artwork sells a lot,” Santiago said.
Rogue Gallery Executive Director Kristen O’Neil said she was pleased with the crowd’s positive reaction to the show.
“I think it’s important to have art centers where we can have people bring in anything that they really want to show, not just what they want to sell, something that’s in them they want to get out. As a nonprofit Art Center, that’s part of our mission. To inspire our community, sales are great, but our mission is to have this amazing art get created and nurtured in this environment,” O’Neil said.
The “Between the Lines” show, which opened in September, runs through Friday, Oct. 31, at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center, 40 S. Bartlett Street, Medford.
Art Van Kraft is an artist living in Ashland and a former broadcast journalist and news director of a Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate. Email him at [email protected].
