A wonder in the woods
Photo courtesy Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
Renowned wood and fiber artist Monica Setziol-Phillips is exhibiting her work along with seven of her former students in the new show at the Lincoln City Cultural Center.
“Journeys with Wood” includes pieces by Setziol-Phillips as well as Ian Gelbrich, Edward Running, Jeff Lorence, Hilary Pfeifer, Whitney Vogel, Milt Ritter and Jim Gryte, all of whom studied under her at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.
“I give great thanks to both the cultural center and Sitka for doing this, because it’s something I’ve had in my mind for a long time,” Setziol-Phillips said. “It’s very important that we broaden the base of people that are interested in the arts; so many people are afraid to try to create some kind of art, but no matter your skill level it enriches your life so much.”
The exhibit opens this Friday, Oct. 8, with a reception in the auditorium from 5 to 7 pm, offering the chance to meet with the artists and enjoy a glass of wine. Setziol-Phillips will give a talk at 6 pm.
A virtual gallery tour will be posted to the cultural center’s Facebook page on Saturday, Oct. 9.
Setziol-Phillips is the daughter of Leroy Setziol, affectionately known as the father of Northwest woodcarving.
“My roots start way back in the mid-’60s when John Gray commissioned my dad to do some large panels for the Salishan Lodge. They used to have wonderful shows there and my dad and I had shows there both together and also solo. Several years ago, I was commissioned to do a big piece at the lodge and that was a great honor.”
The seven- and eight-foot-tall free-standing yellow cedar columns are carved on four sides.
Setziol-Phillips has also taught for many years at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, located just north of Lincoln City.
“I taught my first carving class there about nine years ago and have done it every year since,” she said. “I’ve absolutely loved it. My students have had some experience or none at all, and it doesn’t affect how well they do or how much they enjoy the class.”
Photo courtesy Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
Many of those students have gone on to become prominent artists themselves. Each one has used the skills that Setziol-Phillips passed on to enhance their own unique styles of woodworking. The diversity of technique and style and the tactile nature of this collection serves to illustrate the compelling qualities of art crafted from wood.
Setziol-Phillips, who lives in Sheridan, started her career as a weaver, studying with Solange Kowert. She gradually began to combine weaving with woodcarving, striving to get each to relate to the other.
“For me it’s a kind of completion of the circle,” Setziol-Phillips said. “Weaving involves building a work through the addition of warp to weft. Wood carving, on the other hand, involves building a work through the subtraction of material. Putting the two together is always precarious, for it is only in that moment that it becomes clear that the two belong together.”
Setziol-Phillips said she looks forward to sharing what she has learned with her students and feels she learns from them as well. Her own work is mostly abstract, as she understands that approach best and finds it most meaningful.
In addition to the wood carving class at Sitka, Setziol-Phillips will be adding a class in frame loom weaving.
“I’ve been weaving and carving for many years and I love both the creating of art and the teaching of it,” she said. “I hope to continue for many years.”
“Journeys with Wood runs through Nov. 7, on display from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Monday at the Chessman Gallery, located inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101. For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org, or call 541-994-9994.