“Distance” has been the watchword of Pegi Christiansen’s yearlong residency at the Lynden Sculpture Garden. With her mother 1,460 miles away in Phoenix and a grandson 1,756 miles away in Los Angeles, distance occupies a central place in Christiansen’s personal life, and the 23-mile schlep to the Lynden Sculpture Garden from Christiansen’s home furnished many hours of meditating on proximity.
Considering Christiansen’s conviction that distance has an emotional dimension over and above its physical aspect, distance is a creative catalyst for the artist. Consequently, the thousands of miles separating Christiansen from important collaborators was less of an obstacle than it was an inspiration. Each month since September 2014, Christiansen, along with Theresa Columbus (Baltimore), John Loscuito (Naples, Fla.) and Jennifer Holmes (Whittier, Calif.) have been taking self-portraits at dawn and then collaborating from their respective home bases. This past August, the artists came together at Lynden to develop a site-specific performance based on their year of long-distance art making.
“Distance” takes place at the Lynden Sculpture Garden (2145 W. Brown Deer Road) at 4 p.m. on Oct. 10 and 11.
“New Hanji: A Korean Paper Tradition Re-Imaged”
Charles Allis Art Museum
1801 N. Prospect Ave.
Paper is an unusually multipurpose material in the Korean tradition. Made from the fibrous bark of mulberry plants and with a life span of 1,000 years, hanji is used for everything from drawing to crafting suits of armor. “New Hanji: A Korean Paper Tradition Re-Imaged,” opening Friday, Oct. 9, with a reception from 6-9 p.m., features contemporary takes on an ancient tradition. Three Korean and five Milwaukee artists demonstrate the versatility of hanji with funerary garments, sewing boxes, prints of Buddhist sculptures and other works. Master South Korean hanji artist, Haemija Kim, will offer two workshops on Oct. 10 and 11.
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“Jaws Five”
Kunzelman Esser Lofts Gallery
710 W. Historic Mitchell St.
It was 16 years ago when Francis Ford first felt a compulsion to photograph Jack Eigel, who was unaccountably clad in a U.S. Postal Service uniform on a Sunday. “Jaws Five” is the fifth exhibition of photographs by Ford that features local man-about-town Eigel. Past collaborations between the artist and his muse have drawn heavily on Eigel’s extensive collection of vintage clothing to suggest strange stories with odd juxtapositions of persons, props and places. The 23 photographs featured in “Jaws Five,” displayed from 2-7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, continue the tradition of surrealistic silliness that ensues when Ford turns his lens on Eigel.
