Tom Hausken and Larry Metcalf - Aug. 28 through Oct. 26
Throughout September and October, the Gallery at the Park will showcase Tom Hausken and Larry Metcalf’s exhibit “Working Through It – 35 Years.”
The title of the show, “Working Through It,” refers to the idea that working is a constant part of an artist’s life. Artists are always working and creating, regardless of what life throws at them.
Metcalf, who has been a friend and mentor to Hausken for 35 years, taught him to “work no matter what the outcome” and to “hold the creative process close to one’s heart in order to nurture and maintain a right and pure aesthetic.” Hausken was impressed by his friend’s devotion to his craft and by his commitment to his students, his family and his community.
For over four decades, Larry Metcalf has been a member of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen, a group of artists whose stated mission is “to promote excellence of design and craftsmanship, and to stimulate public appreciation of and interest in fine craft.” Metcalf also received the organization’s first ever Lifetime Achievement Award for his extraordinary contributions and service.
In 1985, Tom Hausken graduated from Seattle Pacific University before continuing his studies in drawing and painting at the University of Washington. He has received two fellowship residencies from the Vermont Studio Center: a Clowes Fellowship in 2010 and a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship in 2016. In 2017, he was the artist in residence at the Yakima Valley Museum.
Hausken creates bold, effusive paintings that are rich in texture and layering. For this exhibit, he has returned to a saturated color palette, reflecting an optimism of an earlier time. He describes his work as “making friends with the memory, melancholy and fragility of the world in which we inhabit.”
Meanwhile, Metcalf has provided the three-dimensional art for the show. His pieces are based on the form of a pagoda—a place for solitude. The pieces were made using white willow, raffia, gold leaf and felt. They are dramatic in their absence of color, with light creating shadows on the folded paper.
Regarding the show, Hausken states, “It is a bold statement of the love and gratitude for the opportunity to do what we do—to be able to work through it together.”
“Working Through It – 35 Years” will be on display at the Gallery at the Park until Oct. 26. The reception will be held on Sept. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m.
