Everyone knows someone like "Master Judge." She might be a dreaded aunt, an eccentric neighbor, or the nosy landlady, but she's a familiar face. And for D.M.Z. Coyle she's a humorous 10-inch sculpture.
Coyle, a 1975 Penn State graduate, is the only local artist in the Crafts National 24 exhibit, in conjunction with the 24th annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts at the Zoller Gallery. "Master Judge" was chosen as one of 58 works to exhibit from 703 applicants.
"It certainly is very complimentary," said Coyle, a mother of five. "It seems that you have to go out of your hometown to gain recognition and to establish a reputation. When you can come home and get acknowledgment from your peers, it's a wonderful feeling."
There are a wide variety of exhibits at the Crafts National 24, ranging in size from a sterling silver vase ring by Carol Byres that is two inches high to "Fragmented Movement" by Louise A. Ewing which spans 11 feet by 10 feet.
"The jurors wanted to select a wide variety of media and techniques, so that anyone who came in here would find something that they liked," Morrison said.
"The quality across the line is excellent," Coyle said. "The versatility, the colors, and the fibers makes it one of the best exhibits they have had."
Coyle was inspired to make the "Master Judge" last year when a woman admired her collection of caricature clay sculptures displayed in the windows of Moyer Jewelers. The woman, an out-of-state master flower judge, was impressed and commissioned Coyle to make the piece. The judge will see the piece for the first time during the Arts Festival.
" 'Master Judge' is a clay piece that uses no paints, but instead is glazed," said Cindi Morrison, gallery manager for the School of Visual Arts. "You can see the detail in this piece."
Another clay piece, "Autumn Red" by Steven and Susan Kemenyffy of McKean, was one of the 10 $200 cash-award winners.
"There is a sense of mystery as you walk around the piece," said Brian Russman, who is interning this summer at the Pennsylvania Centre Stage. "There is something to look at from every angle. The shape and the line of the piece makes it seemingly grow out of it's base.
Part of Morrison's job is to make the installation interesting to draw people in, but so that it does not overpower the artwork.
"I think the jurors did a good job choosing both two and three-dimensional pieces," Morrison said. "They had to look at three slides of every entry and conceptualize what they would all look like together as an exhibit."
Morrison also had to take into consideration the flow of people traffic in the gallery during the festival when she was installing the exhibit. People have to be able to walk around and not worry about tipping anything over, she said.
One of Morrison's favorite pieces is the double bubble, off-hand blown glass work, "Platter Form," by Eric Peder Brakken of Seattle.
"The piece has organic movement. You can feel the movement and the heat of it while it was still molten when you look at it. It has wonderful color, light, and reflection," Morrison said. "It is extremely difficult to work with a piece of glass this large."
Bob Kim (senior-art) has a different idea about "Platter Form."
"It reminds me of the inside of the eye, and the purple rim is like a contact lens. "
"Fragmented Movement" is a fiber piece that incorporates paper, rhoplex, thread, and ink and hangs from the ceiling of the gallery in three pieces.
"It is very abstract, because of the color," Kim said. "Everything is well contrasted from primary colors to black, and it appears symmetrically balanced color-wise and weight-wise."
Crafts National 24 will be on exhibit in the Zoller Gallery until July 30 and most of the pieces are for sale. More of Coyle's work is on display in the window's at Moyer Jewelers on 100 E. College Ave.
