At Port Chester Art Exhibit, It's All About Interpretations

Viewing Angela Cunningham's art is a bit like laying in the grass and watching the clouds float by on a summer afternoon – everyone sees something different in the shapes and textures.

On Saturday night, some 40 art admirers – including New York State Assemblyman George Latimer – gathered at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester for the opening reception to Cunningham's solo exhibit, Closer & Closer.

The evening was a feast of ceramics, conversation, and a little wine, as Latimer and other folks circulated around the gallery.

“She has an amazing attention to detail in her pieces—they take your breath away,” Latimer said.

Cunningham places emphasis on the abstract, inviting viewers to draw their own interpretations after the second or third glance. From overheard bits of conversation in the gallery, the plan was working. Is that a dolphin? some viewers wondered, while others insisted the same piece was built to look like a human torso.

“There is a variety of imagery" to each piece, the artist said. "The idea changes the more you look at it."

Installations like Billow and Snapdragon were a marked departure from past exhibits, where the artwork often emphasized function equally with form. Cunningham's exhibit doesn't feature any elaborately-decorated salt shakers or themed tea pots. It's a trade-off that allows her to experiment with shape and scale.

“A lot of artists work in function pottery, but there are so many different shapes and forms," said spectator Priscilla Young.

Rendered mostly in muted colors and rigid textures, the sculptures hint at familiar objects. Closer could be a choral reef, a carnivorous plant, or a stylized depiction of the sun. Mantra, with its polished surfaces and conical extremities, sort of looks like a pair of penguins standing back-to-back – until a second glance hints at gnarled fingers or undiscovered tropical fauna.

Cunningham has a way of imbuing still objects with intertia. The mind knows that's a piece of pottery, but the eyes see fruit so ripe it could burst at a touch.

“Power is not easy to convey in art—you feel like the work is talking to you,” said Priya Tambe, a member at the art center.

This was especially apparent in Mantra, with its vague suggestions of meditative practice.

“It was a challenging and complicated piece,” Cunningham said.

Passing by the many different colors, designs and sizes, of the objects, it was hard to believe they were all part of the same showcase.

But to Cunnhingham, the differences are just as important as the fleeting similarities.

“The collection is like the different people in a family—they’re all related, but are very different from one another,” she said.

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