Exhibits of woven, constructed sculptures at Hillestad Gallery in September

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery will showcase two new exhibitions of woven and constructed sculptures composed of metal wire, beads and natural materials.

"Nancy Koenigsberg: Line and Shadow" and "Lewis Knauss: Ledgers" will be on display through Sept. 30 at the gallery located on the second floor of the Home Economics Building, northeast of 35th and Holdrege streets on UNL's East Campus.

The visiting artists will present slide lectures beginning at 2 p.m. Sept. 18 in Room 11 of the Home Economics Building. Immediately after the lecture, a reception with the artists will be held on the second floor, adjacent to the gallery. Both events are free and open to the public.

Through his work, Knauss shares his experience of the landscape. He carefully selects materials that convey textures of the natural environment, and suggests delicacy and change over time. Maureen Pelta writes in the brochure essay accompanying the show that "each piece resonates with refined observations of place, accumulated and distilled over time . . . inviting us to contemplate the pleasures and menace of monumental vistas secured in the safety of microcosm." Knauss groups his work in this exhibition as Pages, Books and Markers. Seven examples of Pages, which capture seasonal change or time of day, are presented in this show. Books, such as "New Mexico Fire" are intimate three-dimensional volumes that reveal text through texture.

Writing about his work, Knauss said, "My work reflects a return to landscape not only for personal connection but also as my sources of imagery . . . Each image is created thread by thread, line by line, allowing one to read these as landscape textures which are naturally created, blade by blade, leaf by leaf. The meticulous process of construction marks my life, physical meditations, (and knot by knot) perhaps releasing prayers into the environment."

Knauss earned an MFA degree from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. He served as acting chair of the fiber department at Tyler School of Art, and is on the faculty of the Moore College of Art and Design and Philadelphia University.

Koenigsberg uses a monochromatic palette of wire and colorless beads to create volumetric sculptures. "Dark Side of the Moon," is a multi-element configuration that expresses positive and negative space, light and shadow through carefully overlapping layers of wire. Writing in the Koenigsberg brochure essay, Jeannine Falino observes "The mind grapples with the appearance of thin wire that is simultaneously heavy and light, dense and empty, or strong and fragile. How is it that something as hard as metal can appear as ethereal as a cloud?" Falino goes on to describe how the sculptures contradict the rigidity and strength associated with metal wire and break away from the grid, creating a sense of openness, weightlessness and luminescence. Ironically, Koenigsberg's small works have a density and weight that contrasts with the seemingly floating large hangings.

Koenigsberg earned a bachelor's degree (1949) at Goucher College in Baltimore. She lives in New York City.

Both Knauss and Koenigsberg will conduct textile design workshops for elementary age children and students from the Lincoln Arts and Humanities Focus school. Seventy second-grade students from Clinton Elementary School will visit the Hillestad Gallery in the first of a two-day experience with the visiting artists. On the second day of the program, Koenigsberg will be in residence at Clinton to conduct creative wire sculpture workshops with each of three second-grade classes. The results of the workshop will be installed in the showcases on the second floor of the Home Economics Building the last week of September. The funding for this programming is provided by the Nebraska Arts Council, the Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery and the College of Education and Human Sciences Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design.

The Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, telephone (402) 472-2911. Admission is free.

Contact: Wendy Weiss, Director, Hillestad Gallery, (402) 472-6370