Five New Exhibitions Grace SJIMA

Michael Peterson
Coastal Stack XV, 2017
H=28″ W=24″ D=24″
Carved, sandblasted, pigmented madrone burl
Ten Hollow Elements

Art-packed galleries open Part 3 of Dialogues From The Forest at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) on September 16th at 11:00 AM. This exhibition spotlights five artists whose works have been featured nationwide.  All of the artists interpret the natural world and honor the abundant Northwest resources in their personal statements of celebration and concern.

From Rocky Outcroppings: Jean Behnke, Michael Peterson and Peter de Lory, features familiar yet refreshing treatments of our Pacific NW landscapes. Behnke is a printmaker and sculptor, Peterson a sculptor, both from Lopez, and de Lory a photographer.

In the North Gallery, Aboreal Beauty: Kathy Gore-Fuss portrays our characteristic forests in lush paintings. Burnt: Lee Imonen fills the glass atrium with an interpretation of an everyday object and a message about consumption of resources.

The hours will be Thursday through Monday 11:00 to 6:00 until October 1st when they switch to Friday through Monday 11:00 to 5:00. Admission is $10.00 for SJIMA members and those 18 and under are admitted free. This exhibition introduces Pay What You Can Mondays for all Mondays that SJIMA is open. We hope this encourages even more members of the community and visitors to enjoy these dynamic exhibitions.

“This series of sculptures puts into visual form our dependence on natural materials, and our need to balance our consumption of these resources. Lee Imonen’s art has been shown and reviewed in Sculpture, Sunset Magazine and American Craft. Lee is a sculptor and instructor at Lane Community College in Portland, OR. He has his MFA from the University of Oregon.

Aboreal Beauty: Kathy Gore Fuss, painter, says of her work, “Every character in the forest is connected to the whole.., I try to capture some of that feeling.”Kathy’s solo shows range from Seattle to Ellensburg and beyond. She has been welcomed to more than 25 invitational exhibitions at prestigious galleries and museums. Her works are in public and private collections such as Cisco and Evergreen State College.

“It appears that somewhere between my intention and lack of it an authentic art can reveal itself.” Jean Behnke’s extensive resume includes her MFA from the University of Texas and inclusion in more than ten solo exhibitions in Washington and Texas. Her participation in group exhibitions include the Surge Festival, Fate of the Forest in Bellingham, and Seattle Printmakers’ Invitational.

“My organic abstract work in wood has always been grounded in the natural world.” Since 1986, internationally known, Michael Peterson’s organic, abstract work has been exhibited in group and solo shows throughout the US, including Revolution in Wood at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Craft Spoken Here at Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2012. 

“I am interested in how humans relate to and alter the places where we live, whether it is the wilderness or urban landscape.” Peter de Lory holds a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and MFA from the University of Colorado. He taught Photography at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and elsewhere. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council.

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