PELHAM, NY — Come join us at the park and at the opening reception across the street from the park at Rockwells Restaurant at 105 Wolfs Lane, Pelham, NY 10803.
Natural patterns inspire the work of Elizabeth Knowles and William Thielen. Separately they have created individual bodies of work over the last 25 years. During this time they were engaging in a dynamic, verbal dialogue on aesthetics and philosophy. Resulting from this long-term discourse is the recent collaboration the site-specific outdoor installation ModernDance.
ModernDance celebrates and responds to the natural environment of landscape. Consisting of a series of colorful arches of differing sizes created from wire fencing and surveyor’s tape, ModernDance collaborates with the environmental setting in shape and size, ascending and descending in an undulating rhythm mirroring the organic tempo of the landscape. Because the installation is site specific, it changes size and shape each time it is installed. Adhering to the particular site, the installation responds in form to the configuration of the landscape with arches grouping in and out of the trees and plant growth, resulting in an endless possibility of color, form and fusion.
Born into in a family of naturalists and scientists, near St Louis, MO, Elizabeth Knowles received her BA from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives and works in New York City. You might have seen her work recently in the art display at the Flatiron Building in NYC. For more about the artists, please visit: www.elizabethknowles.com
William Thielen grew up in Pierre, South Dakota. He received his BS from Northern State College in Aberdeen, SD and his MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL. He has exhibited widely and in 2002 won a purchase award at Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, IL. His work has been featured in numerous magazines. Lastly in Create! Magazine (May, 2017). He is currently a full-time studio artist in Carbondale, IL.