McCrystle Wood, an art professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati, will present her unique show “Specters and Figments” at the Patio Gallery now through August 25.
Wood is a painter and printmaker who incorporates aspects of nature into her work, which is all computer-generated using 3D modeling. She doesn’t use any photos as a basis, but uses the computer to generate unique and engaging pieces, evoking nature and the female form.
She began using the computer to create art out of necessity because all her creative supplies had been lost in a studio fire in 1987. “The process I use is very much like making a sculpture,” Wood said. “I build and construct objects that have all the dimensions and the three-dimensional mass of a real, physical object, except that they are virtual objects and they exist in virtual space.”
Her show at the Patio Gallery will include pieces from three of her series: “Found, and Lost,” “Specters and Figments,” and “Chimera.”
Wood received her BFA and MFA degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington. Her fine arts work has been exhibited national and internationally, and is included in more than 40 museums and public art collections. She was the juror for the Annual Mazin Show at the Patio Gallery in November 2014, and the Patio Gallery board liked her work and decided to bring her show here.
“We are very excited and looking forward to this show,” said Slava Nelson, JCC cultural arts director. “When our committee approved her to judge the Mazin show, they took a look at her work and asked her to show here. We are always looking for different media and genres to show at the gallery.”
Also showing at the Patio Gallery Showcase is “As I See It,” the photography of Catherine Balfe. The Patio Gallery Showcase is just outside the gallery in the lobby of the Jewish Community Center. Balfe lived in Connecticut before her move to Louisville, and her professional career included business and social work, and is now an educator in the Jefferson County Public School System.
“Composition is the formative element of an artfully successful photograph,” Balfe said. “Art is a diverse range of human activities and a product of those activities.” Her photographs have received many awards, citing strong composition and attention to detail.
Stop by the gallery to get a glimpse of this unique work. For more information, contact Slava Nelson, cultural arts director, 502-238-2760 or snelson@jewishlouisville.org.
