BRATTLEBORO — Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 183 Main St., will present an artist talk with Michelle and David Holzapfel in conversation with Gregory Sharrow, director of the Vermont Folklife Center on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Passaggi is a collection of art by Marlboro artists Michelle and David Holzapfel that continues through Oct. 23.
David's locally sourced hardwood furniture and sculpture highlight both his material's inherent beauty and the artist's unexpected and sensitive response to it. Michelle's exquisitely turned and carved bowls, vases, and vessels “transport the viewer to places where magic and fancy are transformed into handheld objects of singular delight and beauty,” according to a news release.
David and Michelle use those portions of the trees left behind or overlooked by the loggers, and together they honor the imperfections, richness, and personalities of these once-living organisms in their art.
But they also explore the world beyond spalted maple and cherry burl: David's sense of humor and his ability to celebrate the given have found expression in a series of photographs shot with a plastic Holga camera and plastic lens, while Michelle turns her hand to needle and thread, creating striking, quilt-like, fabric wall-hangings.