The Athenaeum Invitational |Athenaeum | NVFAA

A Delicate Balance | Sculpture

January 11, 2024 – February 18, 2024

Artist Talk: Sunday, February 18, 2 pm

Curated by Jackie Hoysted and produced by Veronica Szalus, A Delicate Balance is an all-sculpture show that explores the idea of achieving equilibrium. Perhaps more than ever, today we have a greater awareness of how everything operates in such a delicate balance - be it ecosystems, politics, relationships or personal well-being. We must navigate life without tipping too much in one direction so that we can strive for harmony, but at times something radical is required to achieve it. The craft of making sculpture is no different. The sculptor balances their conceptual thought or ideation to material realization through careful molding, shaping and juxtaposition of often unlikely materials through to the selection of scale, color and presentation.

Featuring Works by:

Evie Altman and Marxe Orbach

Shanthi Chandrasekar

Akemi Maegawa

Ceci Cole McInturff

David Mordini

Sookkyung Park

Lisa Rosenstein

Jo Ellen Walker

Steve Wanna

Bat Houses (3)

Evie Altman and Marxe Orbach
Re-purposed wood, tree bark, acrylic, dye, resin, polyurethane
30” x 18” x 4” each
$500 each or all three for $1400

Today, bats are under unprecedented threat from widespread habitat destruction, accelerated climate change, invasive species, white nose syndrome, and other stresses. Without concerted international action, their populations will continue to fall, driving many species to extinction.

These three bat houses were designed with the help of Marxe Orbach, a bat biologist. Each house features an illustration of a bat common to the DMV area.

Unlike bird houses, successful bat houses have specific requirements. For instance, they should be caulked to prevent water from seeping in as well as incorporate vents and height so bats can move vertically to find their preferred temperatures through daily and seasonal cycles. The houses displayed in this exhibit will ultimately serve as nurseries for females and their offspring, and include: three roost chambers with access between each inside the house; furrows on the landing strip and compartment dividers so the mammals can cling with ease; an entrance from the bottom to prevent access by birds, mice, and parasites; and a recommended 3½ inches of space between roost dividers.

Bats are wonderful for helping to control mosquitos (one little bat can catch 1000 or more mosquito-sized insects in an hour), and their guano serves as a potent fertilizer. They pollinate many plants, including agave. I am hopeful that these working bat house sculptures can highlight bats’ importance to our natural world and serve as a conduit for human/bat interconnection.

Evie Altman
January 2024

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Batcon.org
The Bat House Builder’s Handbook, rev 2013, Merlin Tuttle, Mark Kiser, Selena Kiser.
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Cosmic Vibrations - Gravitational Waves

Shanthi Chandrasekar
Metal rings and wire, felt cloth
55" x 75"
$12,000

Cosmic Vibrations - Gravitational Waves

The Cosmic Vibrations series was a response to being surrounded by the sounds of various musical instruments played by my family at home. I would try to visualize these sound waves all overlapping around me and this led me to make artwork inspired by waves of many kinds including the baryonic acoustic oscillations from the beginning of the universe to the extremely small gravitational waves produced by the merger of black holes and neutron stars.

The Gravitational Waves piece was inspired by the possible overlapping of gravitational waves produced by numerous cataclysmic events over space and time.

Artist Catalogue

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