A Story of Survival Told Through Sculpture
Gallery owner Anne-Marie Zehnder’s ceramic sculptures line the walls at AMZehnder Gallery in Wellfleet. The rectangular slabs of fired clay are coated in a shiny bronze glaze, their surfaces raised in dynamic ridges and ripples like the wake of a swimmer. The body of work took Zehnder two years to complete, she says. After she sculpted its shape, each piece took months to dry before she could glaze it.
“They’re figurative sculptures, all done from life, from one model,” says Zehnder. Each sculpture was made in a single three-hour session with model Sam Sewell. “I would encourage Sam to pose like they were moving through water. Almost every pose was a reclining pose, an elongated pose.”
Each piece is titled Surfacing, followed by a page number. The work is arranged in a specific order. “They’re telling a story,” says Zehnder. Though she used a model, Zehnder describes the works as autobiographical. “It’s about a female figure moving through water, or a challenging period of her life, and then surfacing.”
In most of the sculptures, it’s hard to tell at first glance that it represents a figure. The curved, smooth shapes resemble creases in a blanket or the molten forms of lava. Zehnder decided on the brushed bronze glaze after testing many different glazes and finishes. “I wanted the clay to almost appear aged,” she says, and petrified in a permanent state of solidity. “It looks forged.”
Zehnder realized her connection to clay during a figure-sculpting class in college. “I felt this connection to the process that was very strong,” she says. “Since then, I’ve responded to everything about the process — the feel of the clay in my hands, the smell of the kiln firing. It’s the material that says what I want to say.
“I’ve been a ceramic artist for about 30 years,” she continues. “All of my work is about organic forms and movement in nature. And all of my work starts with a slab of clay and a slab roller.”
The Surfacing series, along with functional pieces including sculpted platters and bowls, is on view at the gallery (25 Bank St., Wellfleet) through Dec. 5, with a reception on Friday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m. See amzehnder.com for information. —Eve Samaha
Envisioning an Artistic Sanctuary for the Outer Cape
Struggling through the seclusion of Covid lockdowns, Truro painter and ceramicist Amy Kandall missed her friends, colleagues, and students. Then she had a “eureka! moment”: she began to plan a new ceramics studio that would be built from the ground up on her property.
The plan involves offering classes taught by Kandall and ceramicist Emily Shiell, who Kandall says is a “fantastic potter.” After receiving a B.F.A. from the University of Arkansas, Shiell moved to Truro and has become a key part of the ceramics community Kandall says she is creating.
“Having a fully equipped ceramics studio with two state-of-the-art kilns that will bring the community together is a dream come true,” says Kandall, who runs the ceramics program and teaches painting at Nauset Regional High School. “Especially after the election, it’s time for the community to pull together and find safety and sanctuary together.”
Much of Kandall’s work reflects that same spirit. Her “Heretic” series spotlights nonconforming women who were accused of witchcraft or refused to marry. There is also a series based on potter Beatrice Wood (1893-1998), who was known as the mother of the Dada movement; one on reproductive rights; and another described as “a prayer for Ukraine,” inspired by her family heritage. In other projects, Kandall’s painted portraits of local notables were featured at the Provincetown Commons in 2021, and she will be showing a diverse collection of ceramic bears at the Commons during Bear Week in Provincetown next July.
Kandall says that her artwork, much of which comprises clay slabs with hand-drawn letters and text that encourage slow reading, is about “sculptural and painterly ideas coupled together,” adding that “as a painter, I think of clay as another surface to paint on.”
Kandall will be offering studio tours and sales in her new space at 3 Deer Path in Truro on Saturday, Dec. 14 and Sunday, Dec. 15. See @truroclayworks on Instagram for more information. —Susan Rand Brown
A Feel-Good Multimedia Holiday
Holiday movies and classic Christmas specials are cherished seasonal viewing for many people — and Yaron Spiwak has created a chance for audiences to experience dozens of them in one night.
Spiwak has written and produced The Big Gay Holiday Movie Musical Extravaganza for Thanksgiving and Holly Folly weekends at the Crown & Anchor in Provincetown, and he will host and perform the review with fellow singer Marissa Miller. Both Spiwak and Miller, who played Glinda in a national tour of Wicked, have performed on several other stages in Provincetown over the years. Spiwak was also music director for the Peregrine Theatre Ensemble’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch this summer.
He used his music and production experience to pull together clips from holiday classics including White Christmas, Elf, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Love Actually, and The Muppet Christmas Carol. The show also draws from Christmas scenes in other movies (like The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), Hanukkah specials, and even “naughty Christmas” numbers — think Home Alone or Single All the Way.
“Marissa and I love holiday movies and music, so we thought we’d combine the two and hit on everyone’s nostalgic moment,” he says, adding that their aim was to make an engaging and interactive feel-good show that reminded people of their childhoods. Film clips will lead into sing-alongs for the audience, and surprise giveaways (along with popcorn and eggnog) are promised.
Spiwak hopes that sharing these traditions might serve a broader purpose besides simply celebrating the holidays. “A way to get out of all the divisiveness, with politics and everything, is to sing together,” he says. “I think bringing everyone together for the holidays will be a good reminder of community.”
The Big Gay Holiday Movie Musical Extravaganza runs on Friday, Nov. 29 and Saturday, Nov. 30 at 5 p.m. and on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. at the Crown & Anchor, 247 Commercial St., Provincetown. Tickets are $25 ($35 for V.I.P. seating) at onlyatthecrown.com. —Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll
The Many Materials of Donna Mahan
Donna Mahan has always been inspired by textures, especially those of fabrics. When Mahan was growing up, her mother sewed clothes for all the children in the family. “I picked up on her handiwork more than I realized,” she says.
Her practice now includes textile-based pieces made to be hung in addition to objects made from recycled materials like tote bags, jewelry, and clothing — all of which will be on display in her exhibition “Wrapped in Art” at the Commons in Provincetown.
Mahan has been working with recycled materials for over 30 years and finds them in thrift shops, secondhand stores, tag sales, and friends’ closets. “I’m always on the lookout,” she says. A wide range of mediums and objects make their way into her work, such as paint, ink, plaster, wax, pins, staples, packing materials, rusty hardware, and wire mesh. Much of her work is collaged with techniques involving wire and intricate hand stitching.
A standout piece in the show, Delivery, includes pins, medallions, buttons, and repurposed fabric such as bathmats, blouses, and blankets. The fabric is overlaid with colors and patterns (“I do eco and rust dying right onto the fabric,” says Mahan) and a layer of gesso, which allows the application of paint and ink on its surface. The entire collage hangs from a piece of gnarled driftwood secured to the top.
“Wrapped in Art” is on view at the Commons (46 Bradford St., Provincetown) through Sunday, Dec. 8. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 4 p.m., and Mahan will discuss her work in a talk on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. See provincetowncommons.org for information. —Pat Kearns
Acting as a ‘Leap of Faith’
Actor Mick Thyer, who lives in Truro, says he “took a leap of faith” to portray his character in Cheat, a new horror-thriller from filmmakers Nick Psinakis and Kevin Ignatius.
“I relate to the energy that goes toward trying to keep your children on a clear path,” Thyer says. “And I relate to the man who withholds his emotions because he thinks they make him look weak. But I’ve never had any experience close to what this character is going through.”
In the film, which screens at Waters Edge Cinema in Provincetown on Saturday, Nov. 30, Thyer plays Charlie Walker, a psychiatrist reeling from his daughter’s apparent suicide. When Charlie has an affair with a young art student named Maeve (Corin Clay), the two find themselves targeted by a supernatural entity bent on punishing them for their infidelity.
“To act truthfully, you have to put yourself in a state to believe that what is happening is actually true,” Thyer says. “You can’t judge yourself. You have to just jump in.”
Cheat was filmed over a frenzied 14 days in Warren, Pa. Thyer says he was “close to death” after the shoot, but he loved the sense of community he found among both the crew and the residents of the town.
“The way we worked was very much a ’70s-style family and friends approach,” Thyer says. “We’re all staying in the same house. If you’re not working that day, you’re cooking dinner or driving the actors to the set.”
He says that Warren’s residents were quick to welcome the production team, offering local businesses as locations to shoot in and leaving the doors open if the crew needed to get out of the snow or rain. It’s a unity he says he rarely finds outside of small towns — and it’s part of what makes him love the Outer Cape so much.
“These communities are a safe haven,” he says.
Thyer much prefers Psinakis and Ignatius’s indie filmmaking style to that of the high-profile studios in New York or Los Angeles.
“Filmmakers can get burned by putting their faith in the middleman,” Thyer says. “When you make an indie film, you get to control the poster you release, your cast, your crew, your distribution.”
Thyer, Psinakis, and Ignatius will participate in a question-and-answer session following the screening on Nov. 30. Tickets are $15.50, including fees, at provincetownfilm.org. —Parker Mumford
