Larger-than-Life Sea Creatures Come to Bellevue Arts Museum

Written by Irwin Danzinger Wednesday, 07 July 2010 21:53

BELLEVUE, WA.- For almost forty years, world-renowned jewelry artist Arline Fisch has rarely created anything but jewelry. Creatures from the Deep, originally commissioned by Racine Art Museum in 2008, challenged the artist to bring her work to a grand scale, using knitting and crocheting techniques to create 'families' of jellyfish out of her signature color-coated copper wire. Each of Fisch's 'families' in the installation varies dramatically in form and color, suggesting different species of jellies. Suspended in air and swaying together in the galleries, they submerse visitors in a captivating and otherworldly undersea environment. A series of corals and sea anemones rest below, all fabricated in the same very small gauge of wire.  On view through 11 October.

Fisch first explored jellyfish in her silver work in the mid-1960s, fascinated by their many forms and brilliant colors, and then revisited the form in a necklace based on the Lion's Mane Jellyfish in 1999. For this commission, she again chose the creature as her theme, inspired by Racine Art Museum's proximity to the waters of Lake Michigan. "The larger-than-life sea creatures in Fisch's installation seem right at home in the Puget Sound," says Nora Atkinson, who is curating the local presentation of the exhibition. "I think it will be a real treat, especially for children and families."

Arline Fisch is a perennial figure in the metals community. She is one of the pioneers of the body-jewelry movement of the 1960s and author of the book Textile Techniques in Metal, published in 1975, 1996 and 2001. She currently holds the title of Professor of Art Emerita at San Diego State University.

Arline Fisch: Creatures from the Deep is organized by the Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin.

Bellevue Arts Museum is the Pacific Northwest's center for the exploration of art, craft and design. Innovative exhibitions, dynamic educational programs and special community events engage audiences of all ages in new conversations about art and the many ways in which it shapes our lives and communities.
The history of Bellevue Arts Museum parallels the growth of the city of Bellevue. In 1947, a group of extraordinary volunteers founded the Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Association, BAM's parent organization. They had two goals in mind: to promote the artists of the region, and to establish a cultural and educational center serving Bellevue and the greater Eastside.

The first event hosted by the Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Association was an outdoor Art Fair presented at Bellevue Square, a regional shopping center, in July 1947. Today, the Bellevue Arts Museum artsfair is the largest and most prominent arts festival in the Northwest, attracting an average of 350,000 visitors each year. Visit : www.bellevuearts.org/

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