Two Woodstock artists collaborate in an expressive new work
Friday, October 24, 2014
WOODSTOCK — Inspired by the natural beauty of the Quiet Corner and to challenge themselves as writers and artists, Woodstock residents Leila Philip and Garth Evans have created “Water Rising,” an association of stunning watercolors and haunting poems.
The authors are publishing “Water Rising” and plan to use the book, together with music composed by Shirish Korde, to generate conversations about and support for environmental stewardship. Art has played an important role in the preservation of the American landscape and the authors intend for this project to draw upon that histo-ry to challenge and inspire audiences to a greater awareness of and discussion about our relationship to our rural spaces. All net proceeds from the book will go to organizations working to preserve the beauty and natural resources of New England, especially in the Quiet Corner.
Garth Evans is an internationally renowned sculptor whose experimental abstract works are displayed in major museums worldwide. Leila Philip is an award-winning writer known for her distinctive work in literary non-fiction. The couple spent 12 months pushing beyond their usual artistic genres to create works that evoke the distinctive rhythms and sense of place of rural northeast Connecticut. Leila wrote poems; Garth made watercolors. The resulting book generates an exciting new sense of how word and image can interact to create new meanings as it explores the ways in which we locate ourselves in a rapidly changing natural world.
Renowned composer Shirish Korde has engaged with Evans and Philip to compose music in response to the watercolors as well as to set some of the poems to music. The book will be released with performances of this new art collaboration, which will involve music, image and spoken word.
To learn more about this book and collaborative art project, see www.water-rising.com. Or stop by the Silver Circle Gallery in Putnam, where a display about “Water Rising” will be up through Nov. 2.