An exhibition of recent works by Melinda Snyder and Cindy Rollins opens at Pyro Gallery on October 3rd during the First Friday Trolley Hop, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. A First Friday Trolley Hop reception will also be held Friday, November 7th. The show runs from October 3rd through November 8th.
Melinda Snyder is a fiber artist who has been creating quilts for more than twenty-five years.
During art school and after, she concentrated on machine embroidery, using the sewing machine as a way of drawing on fabric. Freed from the constraints of traditional stitching, she stitched freeform all over the surface of the canvas.
Snyder's recent work draws from many influences.
She is inspired by the graphic patterns and color combinations of West African culture, which she studies with elementary students as an art teacher. She is also influenced by antique Early American crazy quilts and the piecing techniques they utilize.
Key to Snyder's work are the color relationships she develops through the process of dying fabric, piecing it together, and finishing the cloth with rows of quilting stitches. For Snyder, the surprises of color and texture she discovers as she works, and the process of cutting, piecing, and finishing the piece, are what make quilting so rewarding.
Cindy Rollins is a painter who focuses largely on landscapes, drawing upon experiences of the places she has visited in her personal travels. She edits and synthesizes the characteristics she has observed to create dynamic images rich in color and texture.
In her recent works, she has included both imaginary and real visions of the earth, sky and the loneliness of the deep space where the two meet. It is in this space that she finds balance between dynamic and static, fantastic and real, light and dark. In this space she imagines all people are connected, and dreams are made and realized. The paintings in this body of work are reinterpretations of drawings, photographs, and notes from places she has visited, from the mountains of Montana to the beaches of North Carolina. She paints what she sees with her eyes, her mind, and her heart.
Melinda Snyder can be reached at msmelindasnyder@gmail.com
Cindy Rollins can be reached at crollins@hogandev.com
Pyro Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday 11 am to 6 pm, and by appointment. Pyro is located at 624 W. Main St. in Louisville, KY. Call (502) 587-0106.
