RECEPTION, PAPER-SCULPTING DEMO AT RIVER GALLERY

Six artists whose work is displayed in River Gallery during the months of September and October will be honored with a reception Friday, Sept. 27, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the gallery, 400 E. Second St.

September’s featured artists are Amanda Brazier, Michael Hamlin and Jen Swearington. The work of Lee Malerich, John Whipple and Marty Whipple will be featured in October.

All of the artists except Hamlin will be in attendance at the reception to greet guests and answer questions about their work. The reception is free and open to the public.

The gallery continues to spotlight its artists on Saturday, Sept. 28, with a paper sculpture demonstration by Jen Swearington. The artist will show her cut-paper technique in the gallery from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In the last 18 months, Swearington has traveled to Bulgaria, Mexico, Greece and Finland, where she created art for a month in each country.

“I draw by cutting layered paper, carving flat little models of local architecture from direct observation while sitting on the sidewalk,” she says in an artist’s statement.

“I cut to delineate each building’s particular details: arches, doorways, windows, columns, even birds perched on its roofline. I assemble the cut paper into a three-dimensional sculpture, and set it in the sunlight onto a sheet of delicate paper. In black ink, I trace the shadow cast by the sunlight through many intricate layers of the sculpture onto the base paper.

“I cut patterns within the floor of the structures traced from the floor of my studio at the time. Through this process, every passing second changes the shadow simply because our planet is traveling around the sun.”

The completed sculpture stands as a memento from her time in that country and “a celestial moment that is already forever gone.”

For more information about the reception or paper sculpture demonstration, call 1-800-3742923. “I Found a Fawn Found Me” by Jen Swearington.

RIVER GALLERY CONTRIBUTED IMAGES