Close-up image of an unfinished pieces artists Jeana and Lewis Chapman are producing for the Edge Effect show.
In nature, the Edge Effect describes the diversity of life that increases where two ecosystems meet, like where forest meets field. The edge effect is also used to describe the abundance of creativity that results when artists with diverse backgrounds, styles or cultures collaborate.
With this in mind, the Johnson County Center for the Arts paired 14 local artists from diverse backgrounds who work in different media and asked them to collaborate to explore a theme and create works for the August show at Johnson County Center for the Arts.
Some artists are working together to create a single work of art, like Lyn Walker who has created a turned oak bowl that has space in the bottom for a painting made for the project by Tucker Hibbitts. Others are creating separate pieces that have a visual conversation, like photographer Ed Ellis and painter Cristy Dunn.
“The Edge Effect has cultivated collaboration and has breathed inspiration into my creative endeavors,” said fabric artist Connie Moody. Moody has been working with painter, potter and jewelry maker Tara Belk. Both artists seem to find it easy to share ideas and motifs in this combined effort as Belk explained “incorporating new materials into one’s art leads to discovery, my motto is ‘no rules, only choices’.”
The respect each artist has for the other and their work goes a long way in communicating ideas for this kind of project. Photographer J Jackson said of his partner, painter Temple Reece, “Temple’s passion for painting and making art has been an inspiration to me for years.” Reece said of Jackson, “I have studied the complexity of his work and remain in awe.”
Jackson and Reece agreed to make pieces based on a common area or space, choosing The Berry Branch Farm for their project. Reece said, “Our methods are totally different, but our love of art and nature is the same. Seeing the wonder and excitement in J’s eyes as he photographed farmland that I have so often captured in my mind’s eye and with paints has inspired my own work.” Asked about future collaborations with other artists Jackson said, “I will gladly work with a partner again. The effort has reinforced my desire to understand and communicate more about the wonders of the world ‘arising in my awareness, the individual and collective, the interior and exterior’.”
Fabric artist Mona Alderson said, “I was intrigued and excited when I learned of the Edge Effect challenge, I immediately thought of working with George Sanfilippo, an artist in many media, but who currently prefers working with wood.” The lush vegetation of the boreal spruce-fir forest of Mount Rogers, in Virginia was the inspiration for their piece, itself a threatened edge plant community. Alderson and Sanfilippo worked together from the start, refining the focus of the piece and how the fiber and wood would meet at the edge. Alderson said, “This was a great experience and one I would like to repeat.”
Arborist and self-taught blacksmith, John Andrews and his wife April, a graphic designer, took up the Edge Effect challenge. The two have worked together before to produce art. In 2020 they collaborated on a metal and wood tree sculpture for the Center for the Arts Old Crows Scavenger Hunt. Though their artistic styles are totally different, they enjoy working together on projects often with amazing results. April jokingly says, “He is the muscle, and I am the brain. I think of an idea, design it, and he makes it come to life.” With this pair, concepts flow in both directions. John often presents ideas to April, and she designs them as they work together to create art by integrating metal and wood.
Lewis Chapman and his wife Jeana are also a participating pair of artists in this show who say that they have found it difficult at times to mesh their styles. “It’s been fun, and we’re still married,” joked Jeana.
American cellist, Yo-Yo Ma famously uses the Edge Effect to describe the magic that happens when musicians from different cultures come together for collaborations in his Silk Road Ensemble. In general, visual artists work alone to develop ideas and pieces, adding the opinions and desires of another artist have made the Edge Effect an exciting challenge.
The Edge Effect Show opens Friday, Aug. 2 with a reception from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Johnson County Center for the Arts. Enjoy live music, meet the artists, and see their collaborations.
