Art exhibit turns disaster into beauty
Laura Petrovich welcomed guests to the “Stitched in Wood” exhibition during the Galaxy Series reception Monday in Memorial Hall.
At the reception, Petrovich shared much about the inspiration for her works.
“I was always inspired by quilters. I learned about quilting from watching ‘Little House on the Prairie,’” Petrovich said. “They traveled through this area,
Nebraska and the whole Midwest, and when I was little, it was a huge influence.”
The largest artwork in the exhibition, “Crazy Quilt,” was put together with 80 pieces. Petrovich said she got the idea from her hometown, Philadelphia, and brought it to where she’d always wanted to travel, Nebraska. Chadron State students helped hang the pieces in the exhibit.
“It’s the community help. I wanted it to be an art of community. I wanted them to have a part of it,” Petrovich said.
According to the artist, they hung the 80-piece artwork sporadically, but it still has a consistency that holds things together.
“Each one of the 80 pieces has the color of dark green wood so it holds together,” she said.
The exhibition presents a sense of order with squares but still shows some inconsistency with rectangular pieces.
“I like order and symmetry. Most of the wood is from the disaster of [a] hurricane. Within that chaos, I want to bring back order,” Petrovich said. “And the most perfect shape is the square and that’s why I chose square, but I’m not always consistent in that choice.”
Petrovich also keeps the original color of the woods and only arranges them in the order she wants.
“Whatever the color is, it stays,” Petrovich said.The artist from Philadelphia also expressed her feeling about the cold weather in Chadron.
“It’s the coldest place I’ve ever been. I’ve been to the Arctic and it wasn’t as cold as it is here. But it’s really beautiful,” Petrovich said. “I love seeing the white hills with snow and the very fuzzy black houses just dots in the landscape and the gorgeous blue sky.”
The “Stitched in Wood” exhibition is open until Friday in the Memorial Hall Main Gallery.