Bucks County mixed media artist Summer Yates exhibits in the Abington Art Center Winter Solo Series Jan. 19 to Feb. 26.
An opening reception for Yates’s “WAM!(WomanArtistMother)” is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 19, at the center, located at 515 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown.
With the mirror of her daughters as the catalyst, Yates pries apart some of the culturally constructed framing that inhibits radical self-acceptance as she experiences it.
“As a mother, I’m confronted with my own need to care for and nourish myself. The sculpture, installation, and wall hangings in this show reveal the catharsis I experienced in doing so. The soft, squishy quality of my materials and how I assemble them affirm how I embrace all the parts of myself.” In a celebratory fashion, the work reflects the complexities of “holding it all together” and “total surrender.”
Yates assembles mixed media wall hangings and soft sculptures that are light, flexible and brightly colored. There is an emphasis on the material of her work and how it parallels her intertwined experiences as a woman, artist, and mother.
She notes, “Cashmere, foam, and ribbons are pliable and can easily be pierced, pinned, glued and clamped suggesting the ways we learn as girls to become malleable for the male gaze and the needs of others instead of our own…Conversely, the elasticity of my materials comforts me because it reminds me to be flexible with myself as I age and let go of patterns of perfectionism and restriction.
Yates’s current body of work consists of soft sculptures and wall hangings made from donated and repurposed textiles, plastics and foam. She received her BFA from Moore College of Art and Design and her MFA from The Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts. Her work is collected and shown internationally. She works out of her barn studio in Pipersville.
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