The Montana Artists Refuge opened a new exhibition in its Basin gallery on Apr. 14: “Light Beings,” an offering of sculpture and craft from Jennifer L. Thompson and Nan Parsons inspired by the cocooning behavior and metamorphosis of caddisfly larvae.
Parsons and Thompson have been involved with Artists Refuge for over 30 years, and see their exhibit as representative of the organization’s own rebirth. The Refuge“used to be a global residency, and we’d bring artists in from around the world to study and create here,” said Parsons. “New people have come in with fresh ideas, and for a few years now we’ve been starting to do more.”
While the Artists Refuge has held similar exhibitions in its gallery space, often featuring the work of several artists presented under the guise of a single theme, “Light Beings” marks the start of a calendar of planned gallery exhibits over the next few months. Thompson and Parsons’ exhibit will remain in the gallery until the end of May, to be replaced by the work of local artist Kate Huston. Huston, whose recent “Tiny Box World Series: A dream within a dream” is presently being displayed at The Myrna Loy Theatre in Helena, works extensively with cutouts, tricks of light, and deploying two dimensional images within three dimensional sculpture.
The Refuge also intends to host the paintings of Butte’s Joan Stennick, who is presently working with Baroque Music Montana to create paintings inspired by sound and musical improvisation.
“We have this gorgeous space, and so much is starting to happen again,” said Parsons. “But we’re not exactly an organization. We’ve all been friends for eons and that’s sort of the basis for what we’ve been doing lately.” According to Parsons, the Artists Refuge is no longer a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Regaining the group’s non-profit status is being loosely explored, she said, but not yet formally pursued.
The individual pieces created by Thompson and Parsons within “Light Beings” are made from reclaimed industrial objects, such as netting, piping, and metal scrap. These objects are woven together with natural materials, like driftwood, sand, rock, and leaves into large, imposing sculptures.
Some of those who attended the opening mistakenly bumped and prodded the pieces themselves as they moved through the room, creating a kinetic, interactive experience. Thompson and Parson invoke themes of reclamation and environmental justice while also holding true to the exhibit’s core inspiration; the caddisfly.
“I didn’t want to go around naming things,” said Thompson. “We meant the room to be seen as a single installation, a single walk-through experience.” After visitors were given ample time to experience the space, all were brought to the gallery’s back living room for a presentation on caddisflies, cocooning, metamorphosis, and pupation from Montana State University forest entomology and pathology professor Diana Six.
“What would you need to live in two very different worlds, having two very different agendas in each of them?” Six asked. She provided a comprehensive summary of the insect behaviors that inspired “Light Beings” before answering questions from the audience and concluding the evening’s activity.
“Light Beings” will be available at the Montana Artists Refuge gallery space at 101 Basin Street on Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., through May 27.
