The Phipps Center for the Arts

Color is critical. I think I will always be struggling with it, trying to get it to animate my work. I spend hours and hours refining the layers of dyes and paints on the warp, weft, and inlays I create. A textile that glows because of beautiful colors and patinas doesn’t need to have a complex composition. Subtle color combinations, simple compositions and beautiful materials are enough. –Morgan Clifford, Stillwater, MN

The work in this series represent the combination of opposed concepts; figurative abstract, ancient new ideas combined into art. Figurative abstract sculptures with one goal; the public reflection on art and its projection towards the external world.
As an oxymoron is a provocative figure of speech, these sculptures are an intent to generate a provocation in the viewer to reflect on art, beauty, and the concept they represent. In the creation process, each idea metamorphoses into different stages, to evolve finally into a new piece of art. –De Paola de Lerma, Minneapolis, MN

Although I rely on traditional mediums and materials, I wish to represent a living current in our culture. Artists throughout history have taught me that the human figure is an endless source of expression or mirror of our inner nature.
The abstract qualities of line, form and color are important elements in my work, but the suggestion of a story or narrative is the inspiration for my pictorial language. –Leslie Anderson, St. Paul, MN

Gallery Three and Overlook Gallery

There is a connection between my illustration process and the approach I take in creating images unrelated to a specific text. My interest in figure movement, gesture and anatomy, coincides with my years of practice inventing and creating figures within my illustrations. As an illustrator I’ve learned the discipline of the daily practice of being in my studio. Years of practice, have given my drawing and painting a new fluidity. It has been intentional on my part to explore my interests in drawing and painting through my work as an illustrator. –Beth Peck, Menomonie

The Commons

Vietnam represents many things in the American psyche. For some, it may elicit the exquisite beauty of an exotic Conde Nast dreamscape. For others, it may conjure demons and flashbacks from a horrific war. And still for others, the gritty reality of poor peasant farmers working the omnipresent rice paddies that blanket Vietnam. In the extreme, Vietnam becomes pure metaphor.

Today, Vietnam is literally and figuratively a country on the move. Emerging economically and socially from the ashes of the American war, Vietnam is undergoing rapid transformation and explosive growth in the era of globalization. The confluence of old and new in Vietnam is fascinating witness. These images were captured in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Hopefully at some level they will help contribute something to our understanding and appreciation of this amazing people and place. –Mark Aumann, Eau Claire, WI

The Gift Gallery at The Phipps

Find unique affordable handmade gifts for everyone on your holiday list at The Phipps annual holiday sale. Your purchases benefit local artists while also supporting programs you enjoy throughout the year at The Phipps.