Curator and gallery director J.E. Paterak will lead a conversation about process and materiality with two artists from the exhibition. Eric Stark, architect and basket maker/artist and Jeannet Leendertse, designer and textile artist both have impressive careers in architecture and design. Both are passionate about process and materials related to their current work. Please see out events page on our website to learn more.
about the featured artists:
Jeannet Leendertse
Born in The Netherlands, she spent much of her childhood crafting with fabric, using her grandmother’s hand-crank sewing machine. She chose to study graphic design, and at 27 left for New York in search of an internship. After completing her degree cum laude, she moved to the Boston area, where she honed her design skills at The MIT Press. In the years that followed she became an award-winning independent book designer. Several years ago she turned her focus again to textiles.
She grew up near the coast in the province of Zeeland [Sea-land], and discovering the Maine seashore felt in many ways like coming home. Even though the landscape is different, the smells, sounds, and wildlife are familiar. Her work evolved to echo its ancient landscape and marine life. She now lives and works full time on the Blue Hill Peninsula.
As an immigrant, Dutch culture and heritage are always with her, while she continues to make this new environment her home. Adaptation and reflection are ongoing. Her fiber process brings these outer and inner worlds together.
As a crafts person, she feels a strong responsibility to consider her materials, and what her creative process will leave behind. She started foraging seaweed—in particular Rockweed—for her work, with the intent to draw attention to the amazing benefits this natural resource provides. Seaweed not only creates a habitat for countless species; it sequesters carbon, and protects our shoreline as sea levels are rising.
Jeannet’s work grows from coastal impressions and material experimentation. It takes on a new life when moved out of the studio and placed back in its natural environment. It is this feedback that keeps her going.
Eric Stark
Originally from California, Eric Stark is a teacher, architect, and maker who has served as Chair of the University of Maine at Augusta’s Architecture program for the past 12 years. In this role, he led the creation of UMA’s Bachelor of Architecture degree program, the only professionally accredited architecture degree in Maine. His primary teaching responsibilities are in the design studio, where he is focused on design process, design with intention, and community partnering.
An avid maker, it was a year-long academic sabbatical designed to explore analog and digital ways of making that ignited his love for basket weaving. As part of his ongoing investigations, he has traveled to North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vermont, and Loch Na Fooey, Ireland to study basket weaving with masters of the craft. He continues to explore various weaving techniques and materials, and has had his work included in a number of group and solo exhibits.
Stark currently lives on Munjoy Hill in Portland, Maine with his wife, two kids, and their dog Keoghan in an Italianate multi-family house built in 1881 that they have slowly renovated over the past 20 years. Besides fiber arts he enjoys cycling and gardening, especially growing flowers.