Mary Cassatt’s aura, after Degas 2009, hand-dyed, hand-stitched cotton, 32 1/2″ x 24″

Elizabeth Leach Gallery currently has an exhibit of fiber artist Anna Von Mertens. She used hand-dyed and hand-stitched cotton to create auras of paintings we often only see in reproduction. They are beautifully done, and appear as abstractions. But, in reality are a representation of historical portraits. Von Mertens process is of exploring the relationship between the painter and sitter, and then presenting the aura of the sitter with dyes and thread. The aura that might have been there had Von Mertens been able to be there in person.

I was impressed with the attention to process and the considered research in trying to answer the question of what the sitter was really like. How do we experience an historical painting in print vs. in person? What is the original painter’s feelings about the sitter, and what does Von Mertens glean from the extensive study of the work.

The show concludes February 12, 2011. If you are in Portland take the time to view this exhibit.