Solo Exhibition: Beloved

Artist's Statement:
"My paternal grandfather, Ruben Diener, was from the Amish community of Arthur, located 9 miles from Arcola. When I met Wilmer Otto, Board President of the Illinois Amish Interpretive Center and my second cousin (his mother, Lucy Diener Otto, was my grandfather's niece) at a Diener Reunion in 1997, I contacted him about doing a show of my work. And here we are!

Although it could be said that my artwork and this installation would have a wider and "more informed" audience in a metropolitan area, I am certain it is exactly where it is supposed to be.  Many of the pieces included in this exhibit refer directly to my Amish and Mennonite heritage, some incorporating family or family-related objects.  Many of these pieces I have held on to for years, in order to view them all together and "in context."  To me, what could be more appropriate and fortunate than having a body of my artwork installed so beautifully within the geographical, cultural and familial context of the Illinois Amish Interpretive Center.

 
Learn more about the exhibit, Beloved, at the IAIC and at KAUFFMAN MUSEUM


 

 
Photography by Richard Herschberger
 
Excerpt from show:
"My artwork combines what is perceived to be precious with what is discarded. I think of it as elevating the ordinary to the sacred, and often the objects created allude to reliquaries. The relics may be mouse bones, a small plastic wrench, photographs, smashed bottle caps, Georgia dirt, or a bit of cotton from Cottonplant, Arkansas. Combined with precious metals and stones, lavished with attention and metalworking techniques, the pieces I create are most often jewelry/adornment. Though not always easily wearable, they come to life in their relationship to the body."