Organic Growth: Meaghan Busch and Annalisa Leonessa

Print artist Meaghan Busch and fiber artist Annalisa Leonessa combine in this unique show about growth. Busch’s growth is through hard times – from dealing with the mental decline of a parent and becoming a parent. This body of work is bittersweet, embracing hard reality with warm feelings from the past. Her works are wistful and joyful, embracing the duality of adult life. For Leonessa, growth is the process of making each felt piece. Making vessels has become a way to challenge the limits of the felt-making process. Leonessa must plan her work carefully, choosing techniques that allow her to maintain an open dialog between her imaginary ideas and wool’s natural properties. Her vessels are influenced by natural forms and color to evoke impressions of the organic world. Wool has an intrinsic quality of impermanence, common to all textiles, which can also symbolize the status of our own life, and reinforce the pull towards growth and change.