Lancaster, PA—Lancaster artist Ron Ettelman uses the language of art to transform familiar objects into something new and unexpected in his upcoming art show on the Lancaster campus of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.
“ALCHEMY & the calling of materials” will run March 1-April 24 in the Art Space, East Building, 1641 Old Philadelphia Pike. The show, which is free and open to the public, will be open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday.
The college will host an artist’s reception 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 17.
A process-oriented artist, Ettelman enjoys working with recycled materials and watching them transform.
“In my assemblage, familiar objects are liberated from past function and redefined into another reality,” he said. “I create the story as I do it. Somehow, as a piece unfolds, it starts to tell its story to me.”
Ettelman’s story as an artist began in the early 1960s in Miami, where he started his art training. The beneficiary of several scholarships, he enjoyed live model drawing and painting before entering the Philadelphia College of Art in 1964. After graduating in 1968, he worked in New York as an illustrator. Ettelman later moved to the Lancaster area, where he and his wife opened a picture framing business in Mountville. Today, he divides his time between the business and his art pursuits.
“When I hit a brick wall in the studio, I come to the shop to get out of it,” he said.
Ettelman’s studio occupies the entire basement of his old farmhouse. It is filled with what he calls a treasure trove of potential assemblage.
“This space is my paint box. There are works in progress everywhere to pick and choose from,” he said. “New work is constantly generated and new directions continually evolve. The old and new morph and interweave.”
For more information about the art show or the Art Space at the Lancaster Campus, contact Judith Johnson, art show coordinator and humanities instructor, telephone 358-2201 or e-mail jcjohnso@hacc.edu.