Ginger Ertz, Drawing in Air

Introduction by Mary Kathryn Jablonski

Diane Ackerman’s book, “A Natural History of the Senses,” helps us explore our world in new ways. Fiber indeed awakens the body, alerts us to the sensuous world. Fiber art/sculpture is especially compelling to see, touch, hear, smell, even taste! We are sometimes caught suckling on our favorite blankets as infants. And if we cannot fully engage with fiber in exhibitions, our sense of intuition, the memory of how particular fabric textures once felt or smelled, can certainly arouse us and provoke desire. Fiber art plays on our minds in a different manner than drawing or painting, subtly entering via multiple openings, perhaps more like say, smoke. The three artists featured in this issue each use fabric and fibers in completely unique, innovative ways. What’s especially exciting about their work is not only what we expect or remember from fiber, but also how they surprise us with the unexpected: chenille represents the movement of flowing water, flowered calico morphs into many-legged whimsical monsters, rugs become self-portraits and Barbie dresses multiply into a magical quilt. How marvelous! Yes, you’ll want to eat them all up, at least with your eyes.

Artist Statement & Bio

About her work Ginger Ertz says: “I am a sculptor working primarily in chenille stems to depict the effects of climate change on water sources and the plants and animals inhabiting them. My forms are abstract yet organic, pulled out of my subconscious. They recall simple life forms, like underwater creatures, fantastic plants, or imaginary animals, often incorporating radial symmetry into the composition, at times mingled with references to architectural elements. In this body of work, I am also exploring ways to depict the movement of water. They are visual ideas brought to life, evolving as they grow in my hands. Creating these three-dimensional pieces feels like drawing in air with the chenille stems in the same intuitive way that I draw on paper.

Chenille stems are the perfect medium for me, the wire in the center of each stem allowing me to build up a solid armature with no added materials, while the fibers create the surface. Their fuzziness often brings to mind a favorite old bathrobe or bedspread, eliciting the joy of mixing art and play in childhood.

My process is both intentional and intuitive. Each step leads to the next, allowing for unexpected changes of direction. Because the work is slow and meditative, I work out ideas in my head and my hands as I go along, determining the next step just as I arrive at its threshold, resolving structural or aesthetic problems that might have seemed insurmountable a few hours before. It is an act of trust that my hands will know what to do just in time to do it. Because my work evolves in the making, I see it as a direct metaphor for change over time. I allow each sculpture to grow and change as it will, accepting each stage as appropriate for its time and place, just as we must learn to do in life.”

Ginger Ertz was a Museum Educator for about twenty years, at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont, and the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, where she was responsible for the development and implementation of all K-12 and community education programs, including school field trips, outreach visits to classrooms and libraries, family programming, and more. She also conducted professional development training for teachers, demonstrating the value of museum field trips and their connections to the curriculum. She is trained and experienced in Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), an engaging method of working with students to help them make their own meaning and discoveries through art, using open-ended questioning to guide their ideas, and to foster critical thinking skills.

She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree, has taught art classes in a variety of media to children and adults, and has shown her artwork in museums and galleries throughout New England and the Capital Region. She was the recipient of a 2009 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and is mostly known in the area for her pipe-cleaner sculptures, including Soft Chandelier that hung in the Albany International Airport for several years.

Ginger has completed two artist’s residencies at the American Academy in Rome, as well as several at the Vermont Studio Center. She is currently retired and working as an artist, drawing and painting as well as sculpting.