The medium is the message was a popular phrase coined in 1964, but on Friday, Nov. 18, The Message is the Medium — an art exhibition — opens at Wilton Library with a public reception from 6 to 7:30.
Four area artists — who practice in diverse mediums — will be featured:
- Eileen Panepinto (Weston), painting;
- Debra Schaffer (Ridgefield), mixed media photo collage;
- Ellen Schiffman (Weston), fiber art;
- Joyce Seymour (Wilton), photography.
Panepinto creates abstract and semi-abstract narratives about experiences, places, and states-of-mind through mixed media construction, collages and paintings. The recipient of two special recognition awards for her mixed media painting installations, she belongs to the Westport Art Center Artist Collective which helps to engage the community with the arts. In addition, she has been a teaching artist for many years at area schools and special summer art camp programs, in individual instruction and in after-school programs.
Schaffer transformed from a high school English teacher to a sculpture instructor after she began carving stone and wood, and later working in clay and wax. Years later her sculpture led to three-dimensional mixed media photo collages that are featured in the library’s exhibition. She is a member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists, the Katonah Museum Artist’s Association, and the Ridgefield Guild of Artists. Her work is featured in more than 400 private collections and public areas such as the Tully Health Center in Stamford and Northern Westchester Hospital.
Schiffman is a multimedia artist with fiber at the core of much of her artwork. She uses a range of traditional and experimental techniques including felting, stitching, weaving, quilting, basketry techniques, fiber manipulation and more. Although she frequently works with silks, wools, handmade paper and other expected materials, she also uses unconventional materials in her work such as Q-Tips, ace bandages, metal hardware and found items of all sorts.
Joyce Seymore is an artist and photographer working in Wilton. Upon graduation from the University of Florida, she moved to New York City, where she worked for the next 20 years in the photography departments of various Time Inc. publications, including Time, People, and Money, where she was the photo editor. Almost a decade later in the ’80s she left for her own photographic pursuits. In 2011, she spent seven weeks as a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome, where she photographed the graffiti, tattered posters, and peeling surfaces of Roman walls. Some of these works will be featured in the library’s exhibition.
The exhibition runs through Thursday, Dec. 29. A majority of the works will be available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the library. Wilton Library is at 137 Old Ridgefield Road.
Information: wiltonlibrary.org or call 203-762-6334.