Arts Council December exhibition: ‘Untethered Times’

Artist’s poem accompanies exhibit

Like any flower in the desert Vitality is a delicate balance A very thin and wispy line, Traces of which Might fade in extreme sun Wither beyond revival From too much heat Or too much cascading rainfall Equally as treacherous Extremes Kicking the legs Out from under Life's tedious attempts To walk that tightrope While it's tight And tethered too The very line itself Tenuous Suddenly seen whipping free Lifted by strong winds From lashings trusted to hold While Life is suddenly catapulted Head over heels From the briefly balanced Span of time When all factors Came together To work in its favor”

Untethered times By Mimi Garten, Aug. 6, 2019

The Doña Ana Arts Council (DAAC) will feature the work of artists Mimi Garten, a photographer and poet, and Brian Pottorff, a sculptor and mixed-media artist, at the DAAC Arts & Cultural Center Gallery Wednesday, Dec. 2–Wednesday, Dec. 30.

The show, titled “Untethered Times,” is comprised of photographic prints, video slideshows and sculpture, DAAC said in a news release. The theme is reinforced with a poem by Garten that will be printed and made available for gallery visitors to read as they experience the show.

 “We met through social connection in Deming,” Garten said. “Over time, our families spent time together, and Brian and I became familiar with each other’s work. I understand Brian’s intent with his work, and my images speak to him.”

Their collaboration results in an unusual and visually arresting show, DAAC said.

With more than 40 years’ experience working professionally and privately in photography, Garten is now pursuing themes pertinent to life in the Southwest, the news release said.

“Having lived half her life in Germany and Switzerland, she has returned to her native America with a changed perspective to explore life here without the abundance of rainfall, people, traffic, noise,” DAAC said. “Light and darkness, storms and clouds, all life surviving here and the metaphorical possibilities of all these are recurring motifs in her work. Of late, the smaller overlooked worlds have captured her interest.”

Pottorff began sculpting clay in the 1990s, when he was teaching school on the Navajo Reservation. “Back then, his guides were the sandstone rocks and vague ideas about how abstraction could reflect the landforms of that place without direct representation,” DAAC said. “Since then, the materials he works with have expanded to include stone, metals, wood, sawdust, paper and almost anything else, as long as it suggests some use in art. His guides have multiplied beyond geology, too. Zen Buddhism, minimalist economy, mathematics and jazz improvisation play their parts now.” 

Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12. DAAC is located at 205 W. Amador Ave.

For more information, call 575-523-6403. Visit www.daarts.org.