Ada Asenjo uses pressed flowers to make art collages (left). Shawna Dellecave uses handmade paper to create colorful weavings. Asenjo and Dellecave are the artists featured in “In the Moment,” opening Jan. 12 at the Patio Gallery.
Two artists are coming together to show their work in January at the Patio Gallery, just in time to tackle winter’s doldrums.
Shawna Dellecave, an art therapist, musician, yoga teacher and advocate for people with developmental disabilities, is teaming up with Ada Asenjo, a translator and artist from the Dominican Republic. The two met and became friends while working at First Steps, an early intervention program for children with developmental disabilities. They talked and discovered that they were both artists and hit it off from there.
Dellecave, who was the juror for the Mazin show last month, creates weavings made of handmade paper that become brightly colored art. Asenjo uses pressed flowers and foliage to create colorful collages. The two together will brighten up the room just when January’s darkness is in full effect.
“We know that the room will be full of color with the colorful weavings and the pressed flowers,” Dellecave said. “We know that that color will draw people in, and when you step closer, you’ll be wondering how it was created and it’ll be more introspective. We do think it’ll be refreshing and colorful in the starkness of January.”
The new year is a perfect time to be introspective, she added.
“It’s also a great time for reflection in January. We’re starting a new year, and that’s a great time to be in the moment. Thinking about making intentions for the coming year and making a plan of discipline and conviction.”
The show, called In the Moment, is about being here now, being meditative and thoughtful.
Making her art, Dellecave said, forces her to focus intently on what she’s doing. While most think of meditation as a stress reliever, her type of art isn’t necessarily relaxing.
“Weaving with paper requires a lot of exact measurements and focus,” she said. “Cutting paper like that can really put a lot of tension in my body. What it does is it helps me focus on the discipline. The repetitive action over and over again, and this idea of sticking with things and not giving up.”
The weaving is a metaphor for life, she added: “There’s the constant line that goes up and down, there’s high times and low times, but there’s the constant weave of the thread of the piece of paper that runs through my life and everyone’s life that helps us persevere and keep going and never give up. That’s the metaphor of these weavings that I’m really drawn to right now.”
Asenjo grew up pressing flowers as a child in the Dominican Republic. “In the course of human development, flowers have fascinated and inspired,” she said on her web page, adaasenjo.wixsite.com. “They are both ephemeral and guaranteed to fade, as all life does. The key is to appreciate, enjoy, and relax into the arms of the universe.”
The temporary nature of flowers is part of the attraction, she said. “Imagine this gorgeousness spent on something so temporary! To me, this confirms the potential we all possess for limitless possibilities. It is consoling that this beauty that the soul longs for is provided in such outrageous bounty.”
Want to go?
In the Moment will be showing at the Patio Gallery from Jan. 12 through Feb. 19. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 13.