December 3, 2020-January 17, 2021
"The sun was setting behind the large forest, and in its light the little birches scattered among the aspens were distinctly outlined with their hanging branches and buds swollen to bursting. From a thicket in which there was still snow came the barely audible sound of water trickling in narrow meandering streams. Small birds chirped and occasionally flew from tree to tree."
– Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Artist Statement:
Recently I purchased a property in northwest Connecticut that has required a lot of attention inside and out. As trees were cut to tame the landscape, I put them in piles saving them for potential future use. Embarking on this new body of work, I started with a quote from Rachel Carson, It's not so important to know as to feel. I carved these words on the inside of a bowl of wet clay and after fired, printed the quote by pushing the paper into the concave surface with my hands to take impressions. As I continued to throw forms on the wheel, I pulled some of the saved trees onto my studio. I came across a passage from Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina describing winter melting into spring and printed it onto a tree laying on the floor which I had propped up with a ceramic vessel. The interplay between the domestic vessels, the trees and the text began to take shape, blending inside and out.
Planthouse is pleased to present Janis Stemmermann’s Tree to Tree.
View the exhibition checklist here.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Janis Stemmermann is a visual artist, designer, and collaborative printmaker at Russell Janis, a project space in Brooklyn, NY. Stemmermann's studio practice takes a craft-based approach, incorporating ceramics, printmaking and textiles while drawing inspiration from themes of the domestic and landscape. Along with work at Planthouse Gallery this summer Janis is exhibiting Weighted Tarp (over woodpile), an outdoor sculpture installation, at the Tanja Grunert Gallery in Hudson, NY. Janis received a BFA in sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art, a full fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center and the Tyrone Guthrie Center in Ireland, and was awarded the Pollock-Krasner artist grant. Stemmermann has been based in Brooklyn, New York since 1988 and currently divides her time between Williamsburg Brooklyn and Sharon, Connecticut.
