Feathers, Fins, and Fur: An Art Menagerie, November 5-January 14

Feathers, Fins, and Fur: An Art Menagerie features works by four artists, in a variety of media, that express our universal connection with animals. These artists tap into the collective unconscious to share their views on the human condition, environment, or personal experiences. Stop by to see works in clay by Caroline Douglas, fiber art by Carol Eckert, paintings by Terry McNerney, and mixed-media prints by Johanna Mueller.

Caroline Douglas became enchanted with clay when she spent summers as a teen at Penland School of Crafts in the mountains of North Carolina. She received a BFA in Ceramics at the University of North Carolina and has worked with clay for over 40 years. Currently, her figurative sculptures are evocations of a dream world inspired by mythology, fairy tales, and the antics of animals and children. She is based in Boulder.

Carol Eckert began experimenting with many textile processes at an early age. Though her university training was in painting and drawing, she found herself gradually drawn back to fiber, eventually discovering the basketry technique of coiling. Originally focused on vessel forms, she began to invent adaptations of this ancient process to produce complex pictorial compositions. The universal nature of animal symbolism and myth appeals to Carol and is often part of her artwork. However, recently ancient myths have given way to influences from 17th-century paintings of dead game, 18th-century cabinets of curiosity, and 19th-century natural history museums—humans’ early reverence for nature replaced by an assumption of dominion over the earth. She lives in Tempe, Arizona.

Terry McNerney has been working in Fort Collins for nearly 30 years. He has created murals all around town including Jazz Alley (Mitchell Building); Lucile’s; Sonny Lubick Steakhouse; and CSU athletic offices to name a few. He has also painted murals for the City of Fort Collins Art in Public Places. The work featured in this exhibit includes a series of paintings highlighting the importance of bees as pollinators in our environment, and a life-size 3-dimensional sailfish form painted with an aquarium scene from a series that includes a barracuda, shark, mahi-mahi, and swordfish.

Johanna Mueller is a printmaker, artist, and entrepreneur, born and raised in Denver, now residing in Greeley, where she co-owns and operates Wonderhand Studios, a communal printmaking studio. Enhanced by printmaking’s history of narrative, her work explores the shared histories of humans, as told by animals. Through ambiguity, she feels animals can tell universal stories that weave anthropology, art history, and spirituality— our shared humanness—better than their human counterparts. Her piece I Knew You, Mountain Memories is shown above.

The Lincoln Center Art Gallery is open 12-6 pm, Wednesdays and Fridays, and during performances.

For more information visit lctix.com/social-by-nature.