PORT TOWNSEND — “This piece compelled us,” juror Richard Jesse Watson said of the handwoven aluminum swath.
Titled “Delusive Vortex,” the artwork he referred to was among some 600 entries in “Northwest Expressions,” the regional juried exhibition at Northwind Art’s Jeanette Best Gallery. It was chosen for inclusion in the show. Then it won one of the Merit Awards, and now it will be on display during Art Walk on Saturday.
“Delusive Vortex” was made by Jordan Carter, an artist who moved to Port Townsend in January. Entering it in “Northwest Expressions” was a first foray into the gallery world, she said.
Art Walk brings a chance to see the whole “Northwest Expressions” show at Jeanette Best Gallery, 701 Water St. The free event runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month, and it brings artists and art lovers to galleries and shops downtown and beyond.
The gallery also is open daily from noon to 5 p.m. during the show’s run through Sept. 29.
“Northwest Expressions” had two jurors: well-known Port Townsend-based artists Richard Watson and his son Jesse Watson. Along with Carter’s piece, they selected three other award winners, including “Center of Attention,” a wavy wood sculpture by John Strohbehn of Sequim, which landed the top Jurors’ Choice prize.
Two other Merit Awards went to “Direct Line to Nature,” a photograph taken in Forks by Edmonds photographer Joshua Phelps, and “What Lies Beyond,” a forest painting by Aliza Sáraco-Polner of Port Hadlock.
After going through the entries dozens of times, these works “stayed in our thoughts,” Richard said. “What Lies Beyond” has a mossy, mysterious feel to it, just like the Olympic Peninsula rainforest.
During their jurors’ talk in the gallery last week, the Watsons asked whether any of the award winners were present. Carter, Strohbehn and Sáraco-Polner all shyly raised their hands. The rest of the crowd in attendance applauded for each of them, and then the artists spoke a bit about their materials and techniques.
Carter, for her part, used 10 boxes of tinfoil from the supermarket plus bamboo yarn to weave “Delusive Vortex” on a 72-inch-wide floor loom.
The piece is about connection and disconnection with the world around her, Carter said. An alumna of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, she’s drawn to nontraditional weaving materials such as tin foil.
That material has an unpredictable nature, she said — much like life.
“You,” Richard said to Carter, “are truly an out-of-the-box thinker.”
For more about the “Northwest Expressions” show and about Northwind’s art exhibits and classes, visit NorthwindArt.org.
Sequim sculptor John Strohbehn is the maker of “Center of Attention,” an award-winning piece on view at Northwind Art’s Jeanette Best Gallery in Port Townsend. (Diane Urbani/Northwind Art)
