On Tuesday, May 5, 2022, Joseph Gallivan interviews artist Amanda Wojick about her show Small Shields and Other Shapes, on now at the Elizabeth Leach Gallery through June 4. Wojick talks about working with scraps of paper as the basis for steel cut out sculptures which she paints and sometimes applies paper to. Eugene-based Wojick is the head of the art Department at the University of Oregon, and talks about her kids and their natural facility for abstract art, working between three different spaces during covid, and mixing materials.
This interview was recorded by Zoom videoconferencing software on April 29, 2022 and edited by KBOO volunteer Ray Bodwell.
From the press release:
April 19 - June 4, 2022
Elizabeth Leach Gallery is pleased to present Amanda Wojick’s Small Shields and Other Shapes featuring dynamic color gouache paintings and steel forms with paper material additions. Wojick’s practice intersects with sculpture, painting and collage and this new series of captivatingly indefinable shapes exemplify the progression of her abstract visual language.
Wojick creates multiple works concurrently in the studio pushing them to their material limits and reanimating them into new forms. Origami-inflected shapes made of thin steel connect with formal elements of intimately-sized gouache paintings and the artworks in both mediums emerge and shift like anthropomorphic objects. Imperfect circles, diamonds, and half-moons appear throughout the paintings and sculptures. Cut-out tabs extrude and peek open like tiny portals bursting from the solidity and their depth and shadows become part of the work. Tactile additions of torn paper fragments and crinkled mulberry paper enliven the surfaces in color palettes that range from rich, deep hues of cobalt blues and plums to vibrant yellows, and pastel pinks.
Amanda Wojick received an MFA from Bard College and from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and a BA from Colgate University. She has had recent exhibitions at Stene Projects (Stockholm, Sweden), Ucross Art Gallery (Sheridan, WY), Disjecta, (Portland, OR), and The Art Gym, (Marylhurst, OR). Past exhibitions include Gridspace, (Brooklyn, NY), Buffalo Arts Studio (Buffalo, NY), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA), Susan Hobbs Gallery, (Toronto, Canada), Whatcom Museum (Bellingham, WA), Jordan Schnitzer Museum at the University of Oregon (Eugene, OR), and Sun Valley Center for the Arts (Ketchum, ID) among others. Her work is included in the permanent collection of Portland Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum and many private collections.
THE BIG ASK
Are you listening?
KBOO Radio is a volunteer-run nonprofit and it needs your money if you are listening.
Go here to donate. https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-kboo-foundation
It’s like an old school version of smashing the like and sub buttons.
To hear previous episodes of this show or any of our KBOO public affairs programming, just go to KBOO dot F-M or listen on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Joseph Gallivan has been a reporter since 1990. He has covered music for the London Independent, Technology for the New York Post, and arts and culture for the Portland Tribune, where he is currently a Feature Writer. He is the author of two novels, "Oi, Ref!" and "England All Over" which are available on Amazon.com
- KBOO