Perhaps the most provocative and considered work in the show, Diana Cherbuliez's sculptures beg for intimate engagement, to appreciate the meticulousness of a dental-floss bridge hand-woven in a Victorian style, or to notice the infinite perspectives made available when peeking inside the mirrored works. Very attentive to detail, Cherbuliez uses salvaged materials from construction sites she works on in Vinalhaven, adding elements of historical and sentimental value. "Bedroom Wallpaper" is a medicine-cabinet-like box built from baseboard molding and wallpapered with antique paper. Inside is a helix intricately carved from a single piece of beech that is contained by mirrors. As you gaze further into the work, the helix forms new helixes with its reflection, and your reflection enters the composition. Cherbuliez presents a canvas for personal meditation, the helix a representation of our inner makeup, and our perspective of it as unique as the multi-faceted identity we subjectively bring to the work when we experience it.
Annie Larmon can be reached at aglarmon@gmail.com.
"STRATUM" | works by Michael McFalls + Jaime Gili + Diana Cherbuliez + Molly Levine + Elianna Mesaikos | through May 30 | at Whitney Art Works, 492 Congress St, Portland | 207.774.7011
Related:
Groups + solos, Easy on the eyes, Conversation piece, More 
- Groups + solos
First on the list of this year's points of interest is the anticipated Portland Museum of Art Biennial, which opens in early April.
- Easy on the eyes
"The Funnies" at Whitney Art Works is a sprawling show of upwards of 150 pieces by 25 artists, all of whom have been brought together by local artist — Jeff Badger.
- Conversation piece
Leon Johnson explains his trans-historical-post-colonial-dinner-wait-what?!
- Summer people
Ever wonder why there is so much professional-level art made and shown in Maine, a state with a total population less than that of many minor cities? One answer is that following the fame of people like Winslow Homer, creative types flocked to Maine, often to artists' colonies.
- Weight + measure
The centerpiece, conceptually and physically, of Aaron Stephan's show at Whitney Art Works is "Flat World/Round Map," a cast-iron sphere about six feet in diameter. While not exactly the largest ( "18 Columns" covers more ground and "The Burden Crates" is taller) it creates a center of gravity around itself.
- Found, and created
While aesthetically there is little to compare between Rebecca FitzPatrick's "Thread" show and "Multiples" by Owen F. Smith, together on view at Whitney Art Works this month, both artists appropriate found materials, are impressively prolific, and identify with a post- or anti-war movement of the previous century.
- The sad ghost of postmodernism
It sticks around, but doesn't always work.
- Letters to the Portland Editor: March 13, 2009
We are two Maine natives, who attended the True/False Film Festival in Missouri, couldn't agree more with Christopher Gray's account of the festival and the festival experience.
- Story telling
The three artists whose work is currently on view at Whitney Art Works in Portland have a taste for narratives, real or invented.
- Family affair
“New Work,” a collaboration at Whitney Art Works between mother Judith Allen and daughter Eirene Efstathiou, is a joy to unpack.
- Less
Topics:
Museum And Gallery
, Painting, Visual Arts, Maine College of Art, More
, Painting, Visual Arts, Maine College of Art, Whitney Art Works, Whitney Art Works, Jaime Gili, Jaime Gili, Jaime Gili, Diana Cherbuliez, Diana Cherbuliez, Less
