For this show, you’ve got to think inside the box.
“Contain It” is all about boxes and bowls and pots and jugs and buckets and caldrons. …
You get the point.
The exhibit, opening Thursday at the Arts Council of Snohomish County gallery, will feature more than two dozen artists exploring the theme of containment.
Among the art on display will be intricate boxes based on the concept of “tramp art.”
Tramp art may become the “it” art for art collectors. It’s unique. It’s beautiful. It’s useful. And even cooler, the boxes contain secret compartments and hidden drawers.
This box-making technique was developed by European immigrants moving through the United States in the late 1800s.
The immigrants used pocket knives, and the woodworking style is characterized by the notched edges. The boxes then are stacked in a pyramid layering.
Immigrants scavenged wood from discarded cigar boxes, which were made from cedar back in the day. Finished boxes were used as money to barter for food or shelter.
Artist Tim Lord was inspired by tramp art. Over the past year, he has concentrated on making boxes and wall hangings in the tramp art style. He’s among the featured artists at “Contain It.”
Other artists include Cindy McConnell and Terri Shinn, who will be showing fiber containers. Ricardo Ramirez will display one-of-a-kind wooden pieces. Jerry Wennstrom will show his interactive sarcophagus-like boxes, made from recycled materials. Large basket-like pieces by Barbara DePirro will be on display as well as small, delicate silver boxes by Marie Claire Dole.
Arts writer Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
An example of Tim Lord’s “tramp art” featured at the Arts Council of Snohomish County’s “Contain It” exhibit.
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