PORT ANGELES — She sees people look at her art — and jam their hands in their pockets.
They think it’s a “Don’t touch” situation.
But Trisha Hassler, whose artwork integrates a variety of media — from baby quilts to the hood of an old car — doesn’t mind if viewers make contact.
“I invite people to touch, gently,” she said. “Go ahead,” and see what the art’s surfaces feel like.
Hassler and her art are arriving this week at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center. Her exhibition of 15 works, titled “Personal Truth,” opens Thursday.
All about texture
This art is “all about texture — soft and hard, male and female,” said Hassler, who will give a free talk on “Personal Truth” at 4 p.m. Friday.
Then, she’ll stay for an opening reception that evening from 4:30 to 6 at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Admission is free to both events and to the art show, which will stay on display through Nov. 3.
Hassler started cutting and reassembling stuff when she was a girl. She came from a family of quilters and started out as a traditional quilter herself.
Then, she got into improvisation with textiles and experimenting with what she calls “alternative materials,” and mixing old photographs, hand-dyed textiles and found objects.
Do not worry, Hassler said, about “getting” what she’s putting across.
“Come to the talk and ask me questions,” she added. “I don’t speak ‘artspeak.’”
Hassler’s art is autobiographical, with titles such as “Leave No Stone Unturned” and “Just What Are You Saving It For?” The name of each piece, she hopes, is a starting point for the viewer’s own thoughts and feelings.
Oregon artist
The artist lives with her husband, photographer Tom Hassler, in a converted warehouse in downtown Portland, Ore.
This will be her first trip to the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center. She was invited to look into a show by Executive Director Robin Anderson and asked an artist friend, Martha Pfanschmidt of Port Townsend, about the place.
“Oh, yeah,” Pfanschmidt told Hassler. “Do it.”
The arts center’s indoor gallery, where “Personal Truth” will await, is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.
The surrounding Webster’s Woods art park is open from dawn to dusk seven days a week.
To learn more about art and activities there, phone 360-457-3532 or visit www.PAFAC.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
