The Catskill Chronicle

Story and photos by Ted Waddell

On Saturday, August 15, the Manor was ‘the place to be in the local art scene’, as the village hosted two simultaneous opening receptions of  “The Book Show” at Hamish & Henry Booksellers” and just down the main drag a few doors, “Twisted Sisters” at the Catskill Art Society(CAS).

“Twisted Sisters” showcased the spellbinding and thought provoking photographs of Suzanne BeVier and Elizabeth Ennis and a collection of 28 quirky dolls by Ramona Jan.

“A common theme in the work of these local artists is the portrayal old dolls and/or plastic figures that are either found objects or memorabilia from their life,” said Kathryn Tufano, CAS executive director.

Artist, Suzanne BeVier left the East Village in NYC 15-some years ago, and explored the emerging world of digital media by studying at Sullivan County Community College.

“I started this series with the ‘Girl with No Mouth’ toy that I found…most of the toys were found at a local store or the Downsville dump,” she said. “I like using toys that I find or that find me…a little like playing as a child, but now in a different way because of the knowledge one has an adult…more questions with infinite possibilities.”

Ramona Jan never went to art school, but after running away to Manhattan to start a punk rock band, one day on a dare stopped by at the Meisner Art Gallery in SoHo with a sculpture she had made from eggshells, and promptly was invited to exhibit at the prestigious gallery space.

“For as long as I can remember, I had a disposition for reclaiming objects that had a certain magic for me, yet were discarded by other people,” she said. “However after decades of re-inventing surrounding articles of wonder, I found I needed more of a challenge, so I decided to resurrect something of my own making…[and] as a ‘foundry’, I chose the soft doll collection – left behind by my teenage daughter – which I had labored over for more than ten years.

“Wild abandonment of approach and complete detachment from the idea of anything as ‘unique’ or ‘fixed’ was a necessary to begin the process of work. As I re-dressed, re-named and re-invented the twenty-eight member doll collection, each of their true stories arrived, oddly enough, based on the chapters in my own life,” added Jan.

As a companion piece, viewers of her works are invited to sit at a small desk tucked into a corner of the gallery space and look through an album portraying each doll, each accentuated with an intriguingly introspective story.

Elizabeth Ennis, a painter, photographer, illustrator and art director, is currently designing garden handbooks for the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

“I have been working on a series of photographs of the memorabilia of my life, creating tableaus using various fabrics, objects, slide projections, and video shots…my version of a movie still,” she explained. “I’m trying to create tension between the objects in the foreground and the image behind them, using stills from our trash culture…game shows, bad sitcoms, and grade B horror films.

“My medium is black and white 120mm film, printed archivally,” added Ennis. “I guess you could call me a practitioner of a dying art [and] that’s okay, since I’m pretty death-obsessed to begin with.”

“Twisted Sisters” runs through Sunday, September 27. Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., or by appointment. For information call the Catskill Art Society at 845-436-4227.

To view more photos from Warping Perceptions with Pics and Dolls visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.