about
“Renewed” features the work of assemblage artists Martha Friend, Paul Gray, Kathy Neustadt and Marcella Anna Stasa. Like birds that build their nests from nearby fibers and twigs, the artists represented here create their work from the decaying and discarded objects found in their daily perambulations. Rusty metal, old vacuum cleaners, a bent and broken bicycle, seashells, bones, and old pots and pans are scavenged, stored, taken apart, reassembled, and transformed into new incarnations. The materials dictate the form of the emerging work. From its humble start as what most would call junk, the artist transforms the matter into a piece of art.
The stuff itself is only part of the story. The real thrill is the hunt. Somewhere in our collective unconscious lies the hunter/gatherer gene, driving these artists to comb beaches, old buried dumps, vacant city lots, flea markets, yard sales and abandoned barns ­ all in search of some new potential transformative piece of what others do not want.

events
29 January 2005, 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.:Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser at The Nave

5 February 2005, 2-5 P.M.: Valentines Card Making Party at The Nave
Donation ($4 suggested) for supplies or bring your own favorite materials to share. Led by Jean Player and Susan Rice.
In the case of bad weather, the event will be rescheduled for 6 February.

12 February 2005, 9 A.M.-3 P.M.: Tag Sale, fundraiser for tsunami victims
Donations are being solicited and can be dropped off at The Nave Gallery during gallery hours (Thursdays 4-8; Saturdays 1-5).

12 February 2005, 3.-5 P.M.: Closing reception for 'Renewed'
ARTISTS: Martha Friend, Paul Gray, Kathy Neustadt, Marcella Anna Stasa

biographies
Martha Friend collects material from her urban Somerville neighborhood, her childhood community in New Hampshire and the places she travels. She creates elaborate dioramas and assemblages that evoke a sense of the places where the materials came from.

Paul Gray lives in Cambridge and collects his raw materials from dumpsters, gutters, parking lots and industrial trash. Discarded furniture, appliances, tools, and trash are gathered, dismantled and reassembled into witty and clever pieces.

Kathy Neustadt lives in New Hampshire and her work often originates from others’ trash. Broken teapots and stacks of old books are turned into clever, functional lamps. Old skis and crutches become the perfect loveseat. A practical soul, Kathy is always thinking of how to transform once-useful, now-broken objects into unique home furnishings.

Marcella Anna Stasa collects from the places she has lived. She often spends weeks or months in a new environment developing new works, made with both natural and discarded materials, from that place. Her current work reflects her rural central Massachusetts home. Bones, birds’ nests, rabbit scat, seedpods and stones become intertwined with photographs and other mare traditional art materials.