Expressions in Glass and Mortar The works of Ellen Rebarber and Eric Beckerich
Ellen Rebarber is a sculptor. She works with a variety of materials including metal, wood, stone, cement, plaster, clay, and most recently glass. She welds, solders and enjoys making raku clay sculpture. Throughout her adult life, Ellen has taken classes to expand her knowledge in art. Ellen studied under George Segal, the sculptor, who made a profound impression on her work. She learned about form, texture, composition, painting, drawing, art and music. After her retirement from teaching in Highland Park, Ellen enrolled in college art classes at Mason Gross School of Visual Arts at Rutgers University, where she studied with Rudy Serra for sculpture and Peter Callas and Chris Bonner for ceramics. She continues to create new works, combining materials and pushing her limits to express her passion for art. Ellen’s work is in many private collections and she is available for commissions.
Statement
New and different work was my focus in preparing for this show. Considering the fact that over many years, I have accumulated a vast number of artistic endeavors, using many different mediums. I always fall in love with the material I am working with at the moment.
The combining of different media always excites me.
Working with glass over the past ten years has been a passion for me. The color selection is extremely provocative! I have frequent love affairs with the many types of glass. Dichroic glass makes my heart really beat quickly. Patterned glass gives me a jolt and iridescent glass makes me tingle. This results in my creative juices really flowing.
Included is a piece that I made some time ago. It is ceramic, and at that time my love was clay. I had the fortune to work large and use different types of firing techniques. With the availability of electric and gas kilns, I was able to expand on the methods of firing. This piece is an example of
Raku.
The Totem Pole is also new for me. This large one is titled, “Retrospective Totem”. Each of the components selected for this new sculpture represent an experience in a lifetime of exploring new materials. Every piece represents a form I love, and how it was used previously.
My goal for this piece was to create a new work of art to represent the ways I have worked in the past. The entire process was enjoyable. The weeks of decision making, planning and looking for balance and flow, putting in and removing, all the problem solving that goes into creating a new piece. And Oh! What joy, when I put the final touches on and stepped back, all my
memories there!
Hamilton Street Gallery is very proud to present the works of Ellen Rebarber and Eric Beckerich. Both artists produce amazing sculptures, utilizing silica based materials as their primary media, but with very different results. The radiant elegance of Ellen’s mixed media and fused glass pieces, juxtapose naturally with Eric’s massive and cube-like archaic constructions of mortar and found objects. Working with a variety of materials and processes has intrinsically connected both artists to the natural elements of fire, air, water and earth. Throughout the room are sculptures that honor the source from which they came.
My work incorporates elements of architecture, painting, drawing and sculpture. The pieces are at once ancient and modern. They can be arranged and rearranged, offering infinite compositional possibilities and experiences. Viewed individually, they resemble rare objects that beg to be explored and appreciated for their intriguing depth and complexity.
In 2007 I began creating small mortar and wood sculptures, which evolved with the addition of glass, metal, stone and small found objects. The size, intricacy and intrigue have developed with each passing year.
I graduated from Memphis State University with a BFA in Painting and Sculpture and worked for many years as a designer, creating custom displays, exhibits, and interiors and doing commissioned illustrations. My work has been exhibited in galleries throughout northern New Jersey.
My large-scale sculpture, The Essex Column, is on permanent exhibit at the Wildflower Sculpture park in South Mountain Reservation. Another large piece won “First in Sculpture” at the JCC Juried Show in Whippany.
One chronicler of the NY art scene has called my sculptures “beautifully simple and mysterious”, and recently commented, “There is something new under the sun!”