Volume CXXXIII, Number 8 November 2, 2001 f

Kigel's Oriental brushwork exhibit premieres on campus
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Through Asia's Eyes, the Oriental brushwork of Waldoboro artist Jean Kigel, will be on exhibit November 1 through December 19 at Bowdoin College's Lancaster Lounge, Moulton Union. Viewing hours are daily 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. A reception to meet the artist will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 4, also in Lancaster Lounge.

Coutesy of Bowdoin Office of Communications

The show will include Kigel's new Kayak Series, as well as traditional florals, landscapes, seascapes and still lifes. The Kayak Series was conceived while the artist kayaked along the shores of Muscongus Bay near her studio-home. From her kayak, she sketched bleached and broken branches resting on ledges. Back in her studio she abstracted this drykai and painted it using bamboo brushes and sumi ink on absorbent rice papers. Her textural backgrounds are made with milk resist.

Both the Kayak Series and the Maine seascapes are departures from Kigel's more traditional brush paintings. Although her seascapes are somewhat Western in composition, they, too, are executed with bamboo brushes, Chinese color chips and ground sumi on rice papers. Kigel's traditional style is marked by simplicity and minimalism. She studied in Japan with Japanese masters, and in the Washington, D.C. area with Vietnamese and Chinese masters. Kigel is a member of the Sumi-e Society of America and the president of the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset. She is on the faculty at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland and the Round Top Center for the Arts in Damariscotta.
For more information call 725-3092.