March 23, 2011
GETTYSBURG – HACC-Gettysburg Campus recognizes Women’s History Month with exhibits by three women artists who work in three different mediums.
Large abstract paintings by Venezuelan-born American artist Susana Amundarain are exhibited in the gallery hallway; small copper enameled sculptures by former Adams County resident Prudy Smith are displayed in the campus library; and abstract and representational images in stained glass by local artist/designer Gretchen Shutt McDevitt hang on gallery rods in the Learning Commons and fireplace lounge.
The exhibits are available for viewing through May 16, and the community is invited to meet Amundarain and McDevitt at a reception from 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, at the campus, 731 Old Harrisburg Road. Smith is unable to be at the reception but has provided descriptions and pictures of the processes she uses to create her work. The exhibits are free and open to the public during school hours.
Amundarain has exhibited internationally in numerous solo shows and group exhibits. She is represented in museums in South America and the United States, as well as in private and corporate collections in South America, Europe, China and the U.S., including PepsiCo and Alcoa.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts with emphasis in painting and performance art from the University of Denver in Colorado. She has been a visiting scholar in performance studies at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
Amundarain’s paintings develop as non-figurative expressions of the magical reality that underlies certain places and certain dynamics, at first encountered in the Amazon rainforests and plateaus of her home country, and later in the poetical space of text and theater. Her media includes acrylic and mixed media on canvas and paper, pictorial installations and scenic designs.
“My thoughts about the work that I do have changed over the years, and they keep changing,” said Amundarain. “However, one of the constants in my process of learning and becoming through art is how our work can only point to an experience of what is underneath the world of form and appearances. This is what I want to find every time I am in the process of making a new piece.”
Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in art from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., and has studied at Western Maryland College and the University of Wisconsin. She has served as a juror for the National Scholastic Art Exhibition, as a juror and juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, and as president of the Gettysburg Guild of Craftsmen. Her work has been shown in one-person exhibitions, selected exhibits and galleries in Gettysburg, Harrisburg and other central Pennsylvania locations as well as in California, Maryland and Indiana.
“Teaching art was a wonderful vehicle through which I developed as an artist and helped to nurture the talents of others,” said Smith. “While teaching, I honed skills in metal work. I am largely self-taught. The first years of retirement have been spent indulging in the freedom to take as much time as I want on one-of-a-kind pieces.”
The primary materials that Smith uses in her sculptures are copper, silver, and glass enamel, with the occasional addition of clay or natural elements. Her fabrication techniques include blacksmithing and jewelry making. After the metal has been cut, forged and welded, enamel is applied in multiple layers to create value, texture and contrast. After each layer, the piece is fired in a kiln. “The main objective of my art work is to make beautiful objects that pique the curiosity and sense of wonder among their viewers,” said Smith.
McDevitt began taking private art lessons after receiving first place at Cashtown Elementary School at age 5. She received state recognition by obtaining the Pennsylvania Gold Key Award at age 13. With a clear calling, she continued schooling in the liberal and fine arts, graduating from Kutztown University with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1987. She spent a semester in her senior year in an independent study and taught herself the famous Tiffany copper foil technique. Following graduation, she apprenticed at Wentz Stained Glass Studio in Gettysburg for four years and refined both her glass making and instructional skills.
In 1995, she moved to Santa Fe, N.Mex., where her glass took off in a new direction. Within two years she had not only helped found a Women's Co-op Gallery, but had also shown her art glass on coveted Canyon Road.
In 1998, she started her family, traveled abroad, and relocated to her hometown in Gettysburg, where she works professionally showing art glass in various galleries and doing commissions and inspired pieces.
“My style is deeply influenced by nature, particularly by the elements of wind, wave and earth,” she said. “My work seeks to freeze glass in the flow and motion of nature in my abstract pieces, whereas in my representational pieces, I choose to reflect elegance and grace.”
HACC’s art exhibits and receptions are free and open to the public. For more information, call the campus at (717) 337-3855 or go to www.hacc.edu and click on Gettysburg Campus/Events/Arts & Culture.
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