The instructors and volunteers who usually work behind the scenes at Wausau’s Center for the Visual Arts are finally stepping into the gallery spotlight. To kick off its fall season, the CVA unveiled “Create Share Repeat,” an exhibit honoring its own staff, which runs alongside “Imperfect Translations,” a thought-provoking new showcase that challenges traditional expectations of textile and fiber arts.
“Imperfect Translations” features two Wisconsin artists, Gigi Gastevich and Hannah O’Hare Bennett, who use textiles to explore human connections to landscape and labor. Gastevich uses traditional fiber arts to transform low-resolution reCAPTCHA images (those pesky little tests you sometimes run into when opening a website that verify you’re a human) into large-scale weavings using a computer-assisted Jacquard loom.
“The Jacquard loom was invented during the Industrial Revolution and it’s kind of seen as the precursor to modern computer programming because it uses punch cards to program the machine,” said Mara Mullen, CVA executive director. “So it’s a binary system.”
To further blend the physical-digital divide, Gastevich only uses textiles from the CMYK color model (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) commonly used by printers.
“Once you see it in person, the colors blend and it gets to be the illusion of more colors,” said Olivia Kraucyk, CVA curator.
Kraucyk said the juxtaposition styles create a unique gallery experience.
“You have the ancient, tactile, handmade aspects of it in contrast to our very automated digital systems — those two interactions I think really make her work challenging. It makes you think about the two different speeds people can go and have gone through history,” she said.
This exhibit also showcases the work of Hannah O’Hare Bennett, who uses paper beadwork and textiles to map out the emotional and cultural journey of her experience serving in the Peace Corps in Ecuador.
“[O’Hare Bennett] draws connections between art-making techniques and manual labor, such as spinning wool and shelling corn,” Mullen said. “So to her, that builds real-world human connections.”
“What I really like about her work is that it is so process-focused, every step of the way,” Kraucyk said. “Every string of beads is a step, she uses handmade paper, so it takes some time to dry. Every step of that process, to get to the final result, is really intentional, and it’s all tactile, handmade work.”
With both artists’ work displayed side-by-side, the exhibit highlights a hidden, human element embedded in both virtual networks and physical communities, offering a timely reflection on the evolving ties between handcraft and technology.
“Create Share Repeat” is a show featuring CVA volunteers, staff members and instructors from the past few years. The exhibit includes over 50 artworks from 19 local artists.
“The goal is to really celebrate and honor the people that make the CVA run,” Mullen said.
“We have such a great resource of talented and skilled and hardworking folks, so this is our tribute to them,” Kraucyk said.
The staff/volunteer spotlight is an exhibit CVA presents every few years. It’s a really special opportunity to look inside the homegrown artistry of Wausau and Central Wisconsin. The exhibit fits well with CVA’s mission, which is to add to the livability of the community by engaging people in the visual arts.
“A huge aspect of that is supporting artists, whether that be providing a place for artists to exhibit, or providing employment opportunities through workshops. I feel like it’s all kind of an ecosystem that works well for us and for the community,” Mullen said.
With both exhibits running through Oct. 17, it’s a great time to visit CVA, especially for people who have never been there, or haven’t visited an art gallery in some time.
“The variety of work you see in the ‘Create Share Repeat’ show definitely can draw you in, and then when you go through the building and you reach the ‘Imperfect Translations’ show, I think that presents some more challenges, and it makes you think about the work a little deeper than you might if you were to pass through a random [exhibit],” Kraucyk said.
Admission to CVA is free. The museum features about 18 exhibits a year.
There will be an artist reception for both exhibits on Oct. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m. at CVA. Visitors can enjoy refreshments while looking through the galleries with the artists present for questions and conversation.
On Oct. 17, CVA hosts Art of Wine, its annual fundraiser, at Tebo + Tilly in Wausau. Art of Wine features food, art demonstrations, live music and, of course, wine.
Fundraisers like this, along with exhibit sponsors, are a crucial part of maintaining art communities across Wisconsin, as the state’s public art funding is paltry in comparison to the rest of the country.
“Wisconsin currently ranks 48th in per capita public art funding at just 20 cents per person, compared to over in Minnesota it’s about $7 [per person],” Mullen said. “So that community support is really vital to keeping the arts accessible in the community.”
For more information, visit cvawausau.org.
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