Allentown Art Museum shows ' Sweetgrass Baskets ' by Debora Muhl

Thursday, 16 August 2007 01:10

Allentown, PA - The form and function of traditional basketry is challenged and transcended in the elegantly complex and coiled constructions of Debora Muhl, a self-taught artist from Spinnerstown, Pennsylvania. Muhl uses time-honored Native American materials and techniques in her finely crafted creations, but, she says, “the heart of my work is defiance of the notion that a basket is a vessel defined by its boundaries.” On exhibition SEPTEMBER 16 – NOVEMBER 18, 2007 at the Allentown Art Museum.

Respect for traditional materials and functional basketry techniques are evident in Muhl’s work, but the asymmetrical construction and free-form alignment of the grass coils that form the basis of her artistry emphasize each object's unique sculptural beauty. Unlike traditional basketry, Muhl's forms are created primarily through improvisation, without a preset plan, in order to allow her to explore new possibilities and to create unique works of art.

Muhl’s baskets are formed from the aromatic sweetgrass native to various parts of the United States and Canada. The grass, gathered by Native Americans, then combed, sorted, and dried in small bundles, is left in its natural state to retain its fragrance. This grass, considered sacred to Native Americans, is often bundled with sage and cedar leaves and then burned in smudging ceremonies. The belief is that the smoke will cleanse the spirit and heal physical ailments. Muhl structures her free-form compositions from coils made from this grass that she has wrapped with waxed and colored linen or artificial sinew and thin ribbon, a technique that stiffens and strengthens the coils and also adds flashes of color to the subtle tones of the grass. She also occasionally uses branches from a curly shrub known as “Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick” (a contorted hazelnut) to form dramatic intertwined nests in which her coiled constructions may rest.

Music, Muhl notes, was her first passion, giving her a vehicle for expressing deep feelings, as well as the need for discipline and clarity of vision in her work. She has translated this passion and discipline into an equally demanding medium, the graceful and sensual sculptural coils of sweetgrass that allow her, she says, to “create a kind of visual metaphor for the music of my life."

Ever interested in experimentation and expansion of her aesthetic vision, Muhl recently began a collaboration with David Licata, a glass artist in White Plains, New York. The combination of their respective talents and techniques has encouraged their joint exploration of new possibilities for artistic expression, as evidenced in Licata’s delicate glass organic forms that wind sinuously through Muhl’s intriguing intricately coiled constructions. Several of these collaborative works are among the two dozen examples of Muhl’s work included in the exhibition.

Muhl’s award-winning work, which has been exhibited in shows and galleries in the United States and abroad, is included in many private collections around the world as well as in the permanent collections of the Mint Museum (Charlotte, North Carolina), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, Massachusetts), the Fuller Craft Museum (Brockton, Massachusetts), and the Museum of Decorative Arts (Paris, France). Dr. Jacqueline M. Atkins, the Kate Fowler Merle-Smith Curator of Textiles, is the curator for the exhibition.

For Museum information and directions: Little more than 90 minutes west of Manhattan and one hour north of Philadelphia, the Allentown Art Museum is located at 31 North Fifth Street in Allentown, PA. Please visit our website at www.allentownartmuseum.org to learn more about the Museum’s exhibitions and programs.