Laurel Siwicki will present her solo show "Taking Flight, Taking Root"

September 4 -October 2 

Full Circle Gallery

29B Eglin Pkwy

Fort Walton Beach, FL

Northwest Florida’s award-winning artist Laurel Siwicki will present her solo show "Taking Flight, Taking Root". The opening reception will be on Saturday, September 4 and will be up until October 2. The show will feature ceramic sculptures that reflect the artist’s introspection into the life journey – how we get there and where we take root.

While Siwicki, a native of Niceville, has been working on developing this show for about a year, she feels her own life journey has been preparing her for it all of her life. While the works are derived from the artist’s personal experiences, they are open to individual interpretation, providing spectators with an opportunity to explore their own thoughts on taking flight and taking root. As such, symbolism plays an integral role in Siwicki’s series and heavily helps her tell her story.

“Since the beginning of time, artists have been using symbols in their art to allow the viewer to infer their own meaning,” Siwicki explains. “I use old and new symbols, all of which incorporate my Northwest Florida roots.”

These symbols include cypress trees, dilapidated skiffs, and native birds. Siwicki’s works also often include parts that look rusted or worn, which help create a sense of the passing of time, highlighting the artist’s belief that journeys take time and that one ought to enjoy them.

“Too often we focus on the being-there, when, if we take a moment, we will realize that the getting-there is sometimes the best part,” Siwicki says.

During her artistic career, Siwicki has experimented with many different mediums but has found that clay is what best gives shapes to her ideas. Most of her artwork reflects a sense of appreciation and observation of the world around her. Using a natural element such as a clay seems only natural for Siwicki’s creations, through which she seeks to break the tradition and perception that clay creates merely functional objects by using it expressively in innovative ways

Siwicki’s own journey as an artist has led her to many places, but she has recently discovered that the place from where she originally took flight – Northwest Florida – is the place where she now takes root.

Her love of art and for creating has led her into a career as an art teacher at Crestview High School, where she teaches others to express themselves. She enjoys working with students and find that they create without boundaries and without fears.

“I find my students’ to be artistically bold and inspiring,” Siwicki says. “I too seek to inspire them to find their own life journeys.”

The opening reception for Taking Flight, Taking Root, featuring a talk with Siwicki, will take place on September 4, 2010, at Full Circle Gallery in Fort Walton Beach, from 6 – 8 p.m. For more information, please contact the Full Circle Gallery at (850) 362-8041 or Laurel Siwicki.com