A New Life for Old ObjectsArt Gecko Adds Retro Twist to Harrison Art Scene
by Eva Zeidner
Featured Article
Letter from the Editor: Laura Maychruk
Harrison Street Happenings
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A New Life for Old Objects
Art Gecko Adds Retro Twist to Harrison Art Scene
by Eva Zeidner
What do you do when a passion for collecting fills your home with a plethora of thrift store treasures? It depends whether or not this passion is paired with a zeal for making things. Oak Park resident Lisa Nordstrom turned to assemblage, or three-dimensional collage, as a means of expressing herself. The genre falls somewhere between sculpture and traditional collage. Lisa’s work exemplifies her quick wit and sense of humor paired with a sense of nostalgia. Life lessons are integrated into each piece in the form of quotations. Lisa opened Art Gecko at 19 Harrison Street in time for What’s Blooming on Harrison last April. The gallery features her work and the work of five other local artists. Lisa created an attractive storefront in a space that was formerly District 97’s Family Resource Center and the police department’s satellite office. Painted in hues ranging from sage to cinnamon, with a vintage 50’s chrome kitchen table, old suitcases and antique jewelry cases for display, the ambiance of the gallery suits the nostalgic nature of Lisa’s work as well as the works she’s chosen to display beside her own. |
Art Gecko's storefront, located at 19 Harrison Street |
| Featured artists include Dudley Sherman, who creates his pieces by integrating everyday items from the past, primarily the 50’s and 60’s, with neon. My favorites are the pieces incorporating the portable record player (I still have mine) and the vintage Sunbeam Mixmaster. William Alexander, formerly a member of the Harrison Street Cooperative, displays his Washboard Annie’s and wooden faces also created from found objects. Lisa’s sister Leslie Cefali also works within the found object genre, creating one of a kind pendants and journals. Jewelry artist Ellen Miles’ unique pieces utilize healing stones and vintage beads and local artist Linda Burchill creates woven and stitched necklaces with an antique feel that fit the atmosphere of the gallery. | |
| “They’re all artists whose work I like,” states Ms. Nordstrom when asked how she selected the works on display. “The art is all complementary.” She plans to eventually exhibit the work of visiting guest artists, but for now is pleased with the result of her efforts to get the gallery off the ground. “My feeling is that I’m going to do this (make art) anyway, so I might as well try to sell it. When I see that people like my work, that’s great! It’s a buzz for me!” | |
| Lisa Nordstrom’s formal art training does not extend beyond the classes she took as a high school student and workshops she’s attended as an adult. She has always had a passion for working with her hands and has been making things “out of junk that I found” since she was a child. “I’ve always collected weird, discarded things. As a kid it almost made me sad that people would throw something away - especially something like photographs. How can people throw those away? It helps me to do this (artwork) because it lets me put things to use and collect more.” | |
| When asked about themes that run through her work, Lisa acknowledges, “There are messages in there, but they’re not meant to be heavy, just humorous. When I see people reading them and snickering, I feel they’re appreciating my work. A lot (of the messages) are quotes, song phrases or the beginning sentence of a book chapter. When things like that strike me as funny, I write them down in a notebook. I go through those and they spark a visual to go with them.” | |
| Among the individuals Lisa likes to quote is Benjamin Franklin, e.g., “One good husband is worth two good wives, for the scarcer things are, the more they’re valued.” Inspiration can come from the first line of a trashy novel, e.g., “She didn’t always follow the recipe…” or simply from everyday, clever conversation, e.g., “I’m not having hot flashes, I’m having a power surge.” The messages add a humorous touch to the art, but also illustrate the wit of the artist. | |
Some of Lisa's collection at Art Gecko. |
Lisa’s work is also about memories, simplicity and life in the past. As an individual who has difficulty parting with even inane trinkets because they hold sentimental value for me, I can appreciate what she expresses. Her work conjures up memories for me. It also looks like it would be fun to make. One of her “assemblages” is a collection of items no longer in use: a sock darner, a skate key, garter hooks, an old fuse, tokens. Another is a collection of old hotel keys with one tagged “the honeymoon suite.” It tells a personal story that she and her husband of twenty years share. Another that she told me about, but I didn’t even see, is called Grandma’s Pocketbook. It’s based on her memories of sifting through the items in her grandmother’s purse and finding the folded up dollar bill her grandma always planted there. I didn’t even need to see the piece to reconnect with memories of digging through my own grandma’s pocketbook. A resident of Oak Park for the last fourteen years, Lisa states she is thrilled to be part of the Harrison Street community. She’s watched the evolution of the area in recent years and feels comfortable with where it’s going. “I’m decidedly low tech,” she states. “My business cards are hand stamped. I miss when things change and I can’t do them with my hands. I think my mind-set fits with the area. I want to do my artwork and run the gallery and be successful, but if it takes over my life and my comfort zone, then it’s not worth it. I want to have my life and do things I enjoy.” Lisa is a wife, mother to a teenage son and two stepsons and dog lover. She attended Columbia College’s film school and worked as an editor of 35mm film until the industry began to turn over to video and digital technology. Lisa moved into the business end of film editing and ran a post production house on Michigan Avenue, but eventually missed the hands-on aspect of her work. After leaving her job, Lisa ran a successful business creating corporate gift baskets, but tired of the monotony. “I got tired of doing ninety of the same, identical gift basket.” Throughout her professional life, Lisa always enjoyed collecting and creating her unique pieces. She started doing the summertime art fair circuit and met Jeannie Friedell, owner of Harrison Street’s 31 Art and Vintage. Lisa’s work has been displayed there on and off since the shop opened. Lisa now only shows her work at her favorite summertime fairs including Art in the Park in Austin Gardens and the 57th Street Community Art Fair which takes place the first weekend of June. |
| Art Gecko will celebrate its grand opening on Friday, June 18th from 6:00-10:00 p.m. in conjunction with open houses at other “East End” galleries including Harrison Works (hosting their second annual baseball show), Ridge Art, Morava Studios and 31 Art and Vintage. | |
| Art Gecko is open on Thursday and Friday from 1:00-6:00, Saturday and Sunday from noon until 5:00 or by chance. Lisa Nordstrom can be reached at (708) 358-1950. | |
Letter from the Editor: Laura Maychruk
Dear Loyal Readers,
As summer approaches, so does the café’s anniversary. We have officially been in business for 6 years and it feels pretty good. If you were to have asked me in 1998 I would not have believed we could have physically or financially made it this far! It was a daunting challenge—and on top of that I have been pregnant, nursing and a mother for over 4 of those years! Well, never the less, here we are and we have withstood, barring a few more wrinkles and at least 4 gray hairs on my head. One thing that did not withstand, however, was our maple floor. As some of you may recall when we first opened, our floor was a gleaming, newly refinished floor without a scratch. Over the years, moving tables and chairs on an hourly basis, a constant stream of feet walking over it and a thorough mopping once a day took its toll. The floor was reduced to a dull gray due to maples propensity for oxidation. On Memorial Day we decided to have the floors refinished to their original luster, we also padded the legs of our chairs and committed to a bi-annual maintenance program. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to keep it looking good. Now all we have to do is figure out a similar program for ourselves and we will be doing even better!
UPDATE ON THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR: We have a lease for a yoga and aikido
studio in the 911 space and they are scheduled to open July-August.
We are very close
to a signed deal with a retailer for the 907-909 space. I am very excited
about this prospective tenant and believe they would ad a new dynamic
to our growing
Harrison Street Business District. I will keep you posted!
Harrison Street Happenings
The Art House, 43 Harrison
Please join us June 6th at Scoville Park for Day in Our Village. Art House
artists and members will be there to discuss membership at the gallery, and
our various community outreach programs for seniors and homeless. We'll have
a variety of arts and craft projects for kids. Our booth is just off the
corner of Lake and Oak Park Avenue. Hope to see you!
" Fantasy of Dreams"
Opening Reception - June 11th
7-10 p.m. thru July 25th
One June 11th, don't miss "Fantasy of Dreams" at
our Harrison Street gallery. From comic book art to erotic surrealism, the
fantasies we all dream
about will be brought to life in this dreamtime visual art display. Paintings,
pottery, photography, batik, sculpture, mixed media, and more will portray
our wildest dreams. The creator and artists of comic book, WHITE FANG, will
be at the opening to meet and show original artwork and how comic books are
made. Plan to meet the artists and join us for dreamy art and refreshments.
Café Society has
MOVED! Café Society is a weekly conversation forum about
socially vital topics in today's media. The talk is friendly, facilitated
and open to all.
Join us - your friends, neighbors, fellow coffee lovers - for a spirited exchange of ideas you care about. Café Society meets: Every Wednesday from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. visit www.thepublicsquare.org or
call (312) 993-0682 to find out this week's topic. |
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With Mary Ralph Monday mornings at 10 a.m. |
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Join our New Parenting Book Club! The 3rd Thurs. of each month we will discuss a parenting book dealing with all types of issues facing parents and kids. June 17th 7:00 p.m. 100 Simple Secrets of Happy Families:What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It by David Niven Please call 524-2899 to reserve a space! |
ATTENTION GARDENERS!!! Order your 5 gallon bucket of high quality, slightly used coffee grounds today at Buzz Café |
Family Dinner Night
Lasagna, Stuffed Peppers, Meatloaf, Perogies, |
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This is a chance to discuss ideas, make suggestions, offer constructive feedback, find out what's happening on the arts scene and offer input on how the Council can better serve the needs of the arts community.
Tuesday, June 8th 9:30 - 10:30 am |
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