The Weekly Volcano, June 26, 2014
Moss + Mineral is an easy-to-overlook design store tucked away in a small space on 9th Street near a now-empty bail bondsman store. They show art and photography by some of the area’s best. Featured through July (no closing date set) are works by Carlos Taylor-Swanson (fine woodworking); Claudia Riedener (ceramics); the design team of Adrienne Wicks and Jeff Libby (fine woodworking); Holly Senn (sculpture), and Harriet McNamara (photography).
Taylor-Swanson’s “Mossy Bench” is a heavy coffee table (top about two
inches thick) made from walnut scavenged from an arson fire. Its “legs” lean
severely to one side, but the top is perfectly flat, and extending from one end
is a square metal shelf approximately two feet square with a glass top, and
under the removable glass is a built-in terrarium filled with living moss. This
is a sturdy, practical and beautiful piece of ultra-modern furniture by a
craftsman known for his work with Madera Woodworking Studio.
Also by Taylor-Swanson is a small bureau (jewelry box size) made from
reclaimed Douglas fir. It has two drawers and an eccentric shape, wider at the
top than the bottom, and a beautiful combination of colors and textures.
Another well-known local craftsperson featured in the current
show is Riedener
with a few of her popular giant ceramic heads. These heads are somewhat
cartoonish and bear a striking resemblance to the famed heads of Easter
Island,
which I probably would not have noticed if they had not been pictured
with a
comparable photo of the Easter Island heads on the shop’s website at
http://mossandmineral.com.
The walls of the shop are adorned with a series of about nine black and
white photographs by McNamara picturing people and places, mostly urban, which
are nicely composed with strong black and white contrasts. Among my favorites
are “Mort in Painter’s Loft” and “The Meme (The Same).” “Mort” pictures a
cluttered corner of a painter’s studio loft with a painting propped up on the
floor and dominating the picture. The photographed painting is of a man holding
a gun that is aimed directly at the viewer. Compositionally it fits within the
clutter of its environment like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. The confrontational
pose of the figure with the gun reminds me of images by Andy Warhol, and also
of some of Roy Lichenstein’s comic book figures. “The Meme” pictures a nun in
an old fashioned nun’s habit standing next to a hobby horse. This odd
juxtaposition coupled with the severe downward twist of the camera angle lends
to the image a disturbing surrealistic feel.
The furniture by Wicks and Libby of the Birdloft Design Studio are
ultra-modern, slightly eccentric and sleek; lovely in design and faultless in
construction.
Senn’s paper nests delicately balance an almost scientifically detailed
reproduction of nests found in nature (bird’s nests, hornet nests, etc.) and an
avant-garde use of recycled pages from old books.
Nature and
Spectacle,
Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m., and by appointment, through July, Moss +
Mineral, 305 S. 9th St., Tacoma, 253.961.5220.
Pictured above: ceramic heads by Claudia Riedener
Pictured below: shelf of reclaimed wood by birdloft,
black and white photo of a Paris art
studio, "Mort", by Harriet McNamara,
walnut table with metal shelf and
moss bowl by Carlos Taylor-Swanson
wasp nest by Holly Senn
wasp nest by Holly Senn
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