Door County Arts: Installation Tells “Bedtime Stories” at Guenzel Gallery

Cape by Rebecca Pearson.

Employing metaphorical imagery throughout her textiles, artist Rebecca Pearson explores what she views as society’s mixed messages regarding the loss of innocence in the exhibit, “Bedtime Stories, an installation by Rebecca Pearson,” at Peninsula School of Art. The exhibit is on display in the school’s Guenzel Gallery from September 26 through November 8, with the opening reception on Saturday, September 27 from 5 – 7 pm. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Pearson became sensitive to the media’s push to transmit “inappropriate” images upon the birth of her granddaughter six years ago. Her concern regarding their possible influence prompted her to create the large-scale works in the exhibit.

Pearson says the title “Bedtime Stories” is a play on words that underscores both her use of romance novels and the extraction of metaphors from the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Included in the exhibit are a series of three capes measuring 10.5 feet wide and 5 feet tall. These capes are partially covered with the covers of romance novels and feature abstracted images from the classic children’s bedtime story.

In addition to the novels, Pearson layers and embellishes textiles with embroidery, color washes, crayoned surface designs, and glass and seed beadwork.

In conjunction with “Bedtime Stories, an installation by Rebecca Pearson,” the artist will be teaching a workshop on free-form beading at the Peninsula School of Art on Saturday, October 25, from 9 am – 4 pm.

The public is also invited to attend a free slide lecture, entitled “The Textiles-as-Art Movement in the United States,” to be presented by former University of Wisconsin-Green Bay professor, Karon Winzenz, on Wednesday, October 1 from 3 – 4:30 pm. Winzenz will trace the elevation of fiber and textile works from domestic origins to high art.

“Bedtime Stories” is the third in a trio of textile exhibits on Peninsula School of Art’s 2008 Guenzel Gallery exhibition calendar. The Green Bay area “Women Who Run with Scissors” art quilter’s group displayed their works in early spring, and the “Tribal Textiles of Southwest China” immediately preceded Pearson’s installation.

The Peninsula School of Art and Guenzel Gallery are located at 3900 County F, in Fish Creek. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm. For more information visit http://www.peninsulaartschool.com.