Dewey Garrett,
U n titled (th rea d ed b ox)
photo: Courtesy of the artist
stain ed glass, p ro cesses that
gratified her fascin ation w ith
ligh t and train ed h er e y e to its
e ffe cts on form . A t W e sle y a n
U n iv e r s ity in C o n n e c tic u t, she
co n tin u ed h er art studies bu t
op ted for a “ practical” d egree in
E n glish literature. (“ T h a t w as
as practical as I cou ld g e t,” she
says.) A ft e r co llege , she m o ved
to D .C ., w h e re she in tern ed at
a n on profit arts organ izatio n .
T h e r e H a ffn e r ren ted that
cata lytic stud io, w ith its to w e r -
in g w in d o w s , b rick w alls, and
w o o d beam s. She b ega n b u ild -
in g b o x e s ou t o f stain ed glass,
creatin g com p osition s inside
them w ith resin and natural
m aterials. “A ll o f a sudden,
I w as like: T h is little w o rld is
w h a t I am in terested in ,” she
says. “W h a t’s
i n s i d e
this little
b o x .” She had fou n d her form .
A s a child in G allu p , N e w
M e x ic o , H a ffn e r had fallen in
lo v e w ith the natural w o rld ,
d eligh tin g in its w ild va rie ty.
Sh e lo v e d little b o x e s and co m -
p artm en ts, to o , sen sitive to the
w a y con tain ers can transform
the ob jects placed w ith in . In her
spacious urban stud io, e v e r y -
th in g clicked . “I d o n ’t k n o w if
I w o u ld h ave co m e up w ith
th at com b in ation [ o f nature
and m etal] i f I had liv e d in a
m ore natural e n viro n m e n t,”
she reflects. It’s a pairin g that
has sustain ed her fo r m ore
than a decade.
T w o and a h a lf years ago,
she le ft th at W a sh in g to n studio
b eh in d , relo ca tin g w ith h er hus-
ban d and son to O ja i, C a lifo r-
nia. P a rt o f the reason w as to
b egin graduate w o r k in d epth
p s y c h o lo g y , w h ich em ph asizes
the un con sciou s and the im agi-
n ation. It’s a course o f stu d y
H a ffn e r d escrib es as an e x te n -
sion o f h er artistic e xp lo ration s,
rather than a fo r k in h er road.
Sh e n o w w o rk s in a 200-square-
fo o t bu ild in g beh in d h er h om e,
surrounded b y a garden o f suc-
culen ts and shaded b y en o r-
m ous live oaks.
Sh e co llects m aterials fo r her
sculptu re and je w e lr y on h ikes,
o b servin g on th e w a y u p, c o l-
le ctin g on the w a y d o w n . T h e
m eth od is deliberate; if she
d id n ’t h old o f f on co llectin g
until the return ro u te, “ I w o u ld
n eve r g o a n y w h e r e ,” she says.
H e r co llectio n fills h a lf o f
her w o rk sp a ce. “I m ay h ave had
som e cro o k ed little tw ig for
10 ye a rs, and th en o n e d ay, it’s
lik e, O K , it’s y o u r turn .” C o m -
p o sitio n is H a ffn e r’s fa vo rite
part o f h er w o r k , tho ugh she’ s
also praised fo r h er resin’s
u n com m on cla rity, th e result
o f a h igh ly tech n ical process
p e rfe cte d o ve r years. ( A single
p en d an t can take several days
to create, and th a t’s after she’s
arranged its co n ten ts.)
S h e im agines h erse lf n ever
tirin g o f the p ro cess. “ I lo ve
the full arc, from co llectin g
th ese m aterials to e ven tu ally
creatin g w ith th em to sharing
th e m ,” she says.
T h a t ’s on e reason she lo ves
d o in g craft sh o w s, she adds,
alon g w ith her ga lle ry and co m -
m ission w o rk .
“ M e e tin g the person w h o
is go in g to be tak in g a p iece and
h o p efu lly findin g a special place
fo r it on th eir w all or w ea rin g it -
th a t’s the really g r a tify in g part
o f w h a t I d o ,” she says.“It’s kind
o f a ‘catch and release.’ ”
-J U L IE K. H AN U S
an d reah affn er.com
J u l i e K . H a n u s i s
A m erica n
C r a ft
’s s e n i o r e d it o r .
M D / B altim ore
B a ltim o re C la y w o r k s
C e r a m ic S u t r a
to F e b .
2 6
baltim o r e c la y w o rks.org
Ju ried b y scu lpto r N o v ie
T ru m p , this exh ib itio n s h o w -
cases eigh t ceram ic artists w h o
p la y w ith form , m otif, and sto ry -
tellin g, riffin g on con cep tu al
n otion s o f b o o k s and pages.
M N / S t . Paul
A m e r ic a n A s s o c ia tio n
o fW o o d tu r n e r s
G a lle r y o f W o o d A r t
B e y o n d C o n t a in m e n t
M ar. 4 - M a y 24
ga lle rvo fw o o d a rt.o rg
T h is e xh ib itio n , the sixth in the
A A W ’s P ro fessio n a l O u trea ch
P rogram in vitation al series,
asks 40 artists from around the
w o rld to m o ve ou tsid e o f the
b o x - and ve ssel and b o w l, like
D e w e y G a rre tt’s p ie ce b e lo w -
p u sh in g w o o d tu rn in g in to n e w
co n cep tu a l spaces.
M O / W e b s te r G ro ves
S t. L o u is C r a ft M a fia
G r e e n w i t h I n d i e
M ar. 10
gree n w ith in d ie cra ftsh o w .co m
In its third ye a r, this craft sh o w
prom ises earth-friendly, salvaged,
re cycle d , and un ique ob jects,
from handm ade aprons and
headbands to u p c y c le d dish-
w are and furniture.
P A / P h ila d e lp h ia
S n y d e r m a n -W o r k s G a lle rie s
8 t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l F i b e r B i e n n i a l
M ar. 2 - A p r . 28
sn yd erm an -w o rk s.co m
W o r k from m ore than 50 artists,
in clud in g L ia C o o k , M ich ael
Jam es, and G y ö n g y L a k y , is on
display at S n yd erm an -W o rk s
fo r this exh ib ition , w h ich prom -
ises to b e a h igh light o f F iber-
Philadelphia 2012.
feb/mari2 american craft 017
