The exhibition, “Transformations: The Art of Vicco von Voss,” will open the new season of The Kohl Gallery at Washington College in Chestertown, MD. The month-long exhibition will feature 14 contemporary wood sculptures and furniture by master craftsman Vicco von Voss, who graduated from the college in 1991. The exhibition opensThursday, September 4 with a free, public reception, 5 to 7 p.m., and continues through October 3, 2014.
This past summer Vicco’s work was featured in an exhibition at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD. He comments about the experience, “The Museum show was an opportunity to let my creativity flourish beyond the restrictions of my clients’ functional needs. It allowed me to show the potential of what you can do with wood, and to show who I am as an artist.”
Vicco was born in Kiel, Germany, where he was greatly influenced by both his grandfathers. One was a forester and woodcarver who inspired Vicco’s deep love of nature, understanding of trees, and introduced him to the craft of woodworking. The other was an architect who worked in conjunction with Frank Lloyd Wright to re-build structures in post-war Hamburg. Vicco came to the United States as a teenager and eventually enrolled in Washington College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in art with a minor in chemistry in 1991. He credits his Washington College professor of art, Susan Tessem, with teaching him the importance of negative space. She especially influenced the shadow lines that are carried out throughout his work.
After graduating from college, Vicco completed a three-year carpentry apprenticeship in Hamburg, back in his native Germany. He then returned to the Chestertown area and began making custom furniture from salvaged wood, trees blown over by storms or removed by landscaping and tree-removal companies. The essence of Vicco’s work is in relationships: he feels a spiritual connection to trees, an understanding of the nature of wood, a collaborative partnership with clients, and a unique creative process with each piece.
He comments about how significant it is to come back to his alma mater, stating, “This is an opportunity to pay homage to my college, showing them the fruits of my liberal arts education. I look forward to involving the Washington College students in setting up the exhibition and in some of the events related to the exhibition that we have planned over the next month. I hope my work speaks to the students in different ways – showing them that if they follow their dreams they can make anything happen.”
The Kohl Gallery is located on the ground floor of the Gibson Center for the Arts on the Washington College campus, 300 Washington Avenue. The gallery’s hours are Wednesday through Sunday, from 1 to 6 p.m.
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