'To Dress a Ptarmigan #28' by Irja Bodén
'To Dress a Ptarmigan #28' by Irja Bodén
To Dress a Ptarmigan #28, 2022,by Irja Bodén.
Signed. Glazed ceramics H. 10.5” x D. 8” x W. 8.5”
This series draws from Bodén’s memories of growing up in Kiruna, an iron ore mining town located above the Artic Circle, in Sweden. The title, To Dress a Ptarmigan, references Kiruna which is from the Sápmi (Sami) word for ptarmigan. The town’s center, now unstable after decades of iron mining, is being destroyed and rebuilt in a new location, a dismaying loss of the town and its cultural history. In the series, Bodén’s work illustrates life in the Arctic Circle, its nature, the landscape, the northern lights (aurora borealis), the limited winter daylight and the loss of memories. The cracks in her glazes also reference the extreme freezing temperatures and the aftermath of mining.
Irja Bodén (b. 1960, Kiruna, Sweden) received a BFA in painting from SUNY Potsdam, magna cum laude, and a BA in Social Science from Lund University, Sweden. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in the US and abroad, including The Samuel Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY; Woodstock Artist Association & Museum, Woodstock, NY; Amos Eno Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; The Immigrant Artist Biennial 2020; Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; LABspace, Hillsdale, NY; and Konstmuseet i Norr, Kiruna, Sweden.
Bodén has been awarded residencies, grants, and fellowships: MASS MoCA Studios (2021); The Berkshire Taconic Foundation, MA, (2021); Vermont Studio Center (2017, 2018); and Public Art Fellowship from NYSCA (2017). In 2022, her ceramics will be featured by the River Valley Arts Collective at The Al Held Foundation and at the Courthouse Gallery, Lake George, NY. Bodén lives and works in the Hudson Valley.
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Nadia Yaron is an upstate-based self-taught artist who’s sculpted with wood, stone, and metal since 2017. Her work reflects simplicity, impermanence, and fragility. By stacking her individual sculptures, she creates a feeling of harmony alongside imbalance — an apt reminder of life’s delicacy. Her ‘portals’ suggest other ways of being and seeing; her ‘altars’ a bow to the sacred within our daily rituals.
Yaron’s weaving background instilled an appreciation of texture as reflected in her choice of wood and stone shaped with a chainsaw and hand-carving tools. Yaron’s implements and mediums reflect a female perspective. She honors nature’s beauty by embracing the perfection and inherent truth of natural materials, and her work expresses a belief in moving closer to spirit and ultimately finding peace.