Kathryn Lipke Vigesaa works flow into Chaffee Art Center

By Gordon Dritschilo Herald Staff

Kathryn Lipke Vigesaa has water on her mind.

“Water has been an issue in my work for many years. I think it is the national resource we don’t focus on enough,” said the artist whose exhibition opens Friday at the Chaffee Art Center. “We’re so focused on fossil fuels and natural gas that we forget water is the most important natural resource we have.”

Lipke’s exhibit, “Traces of the Sublime,” is four thematically connected installations including sculpture, multimedia and abstract work dealing, in one way or another, with water.

One piece is a large horn-like structure with a video screen in the wide end with images of the Bering Sea and the sound of water running from a small stream to the breakers of the Arctic Ocean coming out the back. In another piece, freshwater pearls are strung over a pool, depicting the water cycle.

In another room, cast paper wall-hangings resemble a long-dried river bed.

“It’s the whole idea of parched land,” Lipke said. “There are so many regions where the water resources have been dried up, used for other purposes.

One piece is made of long flasks filled with seeds. Another set of flasks will hold water from different bodies along the Gulf Stream, following the circulation of the oceans.

Opening at the same time at the Chaffee is “Women to Watch,” which features photography from five Vermont women — Tarrah Krajnak, Wilka Roig, Bethany Bond, Luciana Frigerio and Lynne Weinstein. Krajnak and Roig work as a team, the rest individually.

The photographs range from classical still lifes to more abstract works. The exhibit is sponsored by the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

The exhibits run through Oct. 29. The Chaffee will hold an opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, and Lipke will give an artist talk at 7 p.m. Sept. 25.

For more information, visit www.chaffeeartcenter.org.

Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.