Art Show at Barron Arts Center is Truly Rejuvenating

Rejuvenate: Recycled Materials as the Medium opened at the Barron Arts Center to an ongoing crowd of interested onlookers. The show, which features the work of found object assemblage artist Lisa Bagwell, and fiber artist Linda Rae Coughlin, has on display approximately 15 colorful pieces of art and sculpture from each artist.

The work of Lisa Bagwell seems to center on sculptures made from found objects such as plasticware, plastic bags, bottle tops, and cup lids. Several of her pieces give us eco-science lessons.  Her “Sitting Person” has been on display at the Greenable Museum in Woodbridge. It is quite large and uses many different discarded objects which are detrimental to the environment. She was asked by one of the patrons how she moved it around.  Bagwell replied, “It comes apart so I can fit it in my Honda. The legs and head come off.” 

Two of Bagwell's other sculpture-like pieces, “Sea Turtle” and “Dead Gull”, fit into her eco vibe.  Lisa explained why both pieces were made mainly of plastic bags and other plastic items:  “Sea turtles consume plastic bags because they think they are jelly fish, and it kills them.  They are now on the endangered species list.”

“Seagulls also eat a lot of plastic because they think it is food.  The albatross, in particular, is an endangered species because of it," Bagwell said. Not all of her sculptures, etc. have messages.  “The Big Head” for example, is made from different items she has collected.  She created it just because she likes faces and enjoys making them as realistic as possible.

Linda Rae Coughlin’s passion is rug hooking and fiber art. Her artwork uses materials from clothing and other cast off items. Women’s issues and the events that surround them are used as themes for her creations. The wall hanging entitled, “Saying Prayers for Daddy’ was inspired by actress Mackenzie Phillips’ life and her challenges. 

Linda explained that “sometimes I get the words first and other times I get the image first." In the picture, “Obstacles”,  she said  she had the image of the woman first.  The words that followed - “Obstacles add their own beauty to life” - came from a man called Sai Baba. As she was hooking, mysteriously, she said, the face started to look like him. She did not plan it, it just happened.

Another one of Coughlin's pieces, “Fly oh Fly”, which has part of an old sweater hooked into it, is shaped into a bird’s wing.  “The bird’s wing, which morphs into a bird flying away, signifies a woman being able to fly free to be herself," Coughlin said. This wall hanging was featured on Channel 35 TV.

The exhibit can be seen at the Barron Arts Center on 582 Rahway Ave. through July 8.