Maria Forde: The Fetching Veggie Etchings

December 1st – December 22nd, 2007
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, December 1st, 6-9pm

little tree gallery
3412 22nd St @ Guerrero
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.643.4929
http://www.littletreegallery.com
info@littletreegallery.com

“little tree gallery is pleased to present the work of Maria Forde in her second solo show at the gallery entitled The Fetching Veggie Etchings. Presenting 8 different works utilizing etchings, fabric, collage and frame making, Ms. Forde gives life to a variety of underappreciated vegetables, from kale to squash, green beans to corn. In addition Ms. Forde will be making a limited edition, low-priced calendar about junk food just in time for the New Year.

“A central part of life is the act of eating. While food is our fuel, it also is our passion. TV cooks and haughty restaurants are lauded for what they can do with a bevy of ingredients. The food itself is transformed into foams, custards, and the like. Yet Ms. Forde isn’t interested in all the fanfare surrounding celebrity chefs or gastronomic adventures in dining. She’s interested in the simple and pure workhorse that has nourished and satisfied us for millennia. That’s right, vegetables.

“The Fetching Veggie Etchings are as engaging as the title suggests. Ms. Forde has made 8 pieces that leave no detail left undone. Ms. Forde even apprenticed as a master framer in order to hand-make each frame to her specifications. Each piece has two prints; the larger of the two displays a vegetable while the smaller etching makes a reference to the larger image. In addition to the etchings and frame, Ms. Forde has sewn a patchwork of fabric surrounding the prints. The patches are a variety of colors and patterns, adding a simple abstraction to the work. The patches also give the work a country twang; a deft nod to the vegetables point of origin.

“In one work the regal onion is centered with its shadow darkening a corner of the print. Opposite the onion is a smaller etching of a person, crying, as tears form a puddle below. The connection to the vegetable is immediate and intimate. Ms. Forde’s work is powerful because of how she is able to transport the viewer to a place s/he can recognize and instantly relate. The act of cutting onions; it can be therapeutic, monotonous and can even burn you eyes. But there is more. Ms. Forde highlights an everyday transcendental experience channeled through onions. So, if it isn’t obvious already, a show about vegetables is no small potato.

“Ms. Forde’s work has appeared in 826 Valencia and The San Francisco Chronicle, among others. She has shown extensively throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Her work is in the permanent collections of The San Francisco Arts Commission as well as The Capital Group. She lives in San Francisco.

“For inquiries and questions regarding the show, please contact J. Brent Large by phone at (415) 643-4929 or by email at info@littletreegallery.com.”