Clara Fritzsche Library Presents

From the Ancient Center: Mandala Drawings and Metal Sculptures by Christine Siarka

Notre Dame College’s Clara Fritzsche Library will host “From the Ancient Center: Mandala Drawings and Metal Sculptures” by local artist Christine Siarka. A recent graduate of Ursuline College, Siarka has a B.A. in Studio Art and Art Education. She has also studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Antioch College. Siarka was among a select group of visual artists chosen to be a participant in Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland and in 2000 received the Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland Artist of the Year Award for Excellence in Art Education. She is currently the art teacher at St. Rocco School in Cleveland, Ohio. Siarka exhibited statewide over the past five years at Euclid Public Library, Cleveland State University and numerous shows at Ursuline’s Wasmer Gallery.

For the past 17 years Siarka has worked with multimedia, textile and sculptural arts, including a period of time spent interning with a weaver in Mexico. Since then, the colors designs and patterns of Mexico have inspired much of the work with her students. Siarka’s current work with mandalas in drawings and metal sculpture was inspired by a desire to combine her practice of meditation with the line and shape found through walks in Ohio’s natural spaces. The three-dimensional mandalas consist of stone in the form of found objects and metal. The metals are manipulated in color through combinations of patinas. The form and texture of the metal is altered to balance the rock’s natural shape, surface and color. The uses of contrast with light and dark as well as the malleability of the metal versus the solidity and permanence of the stone serve as metaphors for meditative exploration and expression. The stone of each piece is in effect the ancient center, providing the energy and inspiration for the fluid and undulating lines of the metal components. The art pieces serve as tools for centering in which the meditative process is facilitated by the use of repetitive shapes and empty spaces that invite the eye to rest and reflect. They are also tools for peacemaking in that the mandalas are expressions and celebrations of the earth as the center of humanity.

In addition to her art work, Siarka also conducts mandala workshops as tools for calming and centering. She also uses creative writing for personal reflection, as a complement to her visual artwork or as a starting point for new ideas. Siarka had one of her mandala drawings and a poem published in the 2004 edition of Inscape, the Ursuline College Fine Arts Annual.

The exhibit will run from April 7th through May 27th, 2005. An opening reception and gallery talk will be held on Thursday, April 7th from 7 to 9 p.m. The artist will lead visitors through a walking meditation while completing a sculpture installation by adding rings of river stones or metal discs. The event is free and refreshments will be served. The exhibit may be viewed during library hours through May 6th: Mon-Thurs 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Call for summer hours. For more information, contact Karen Zoller at 216-373-5267.