Contemporary artist Danae Mattes is fascinated by water.
Where the River Widens is a current exhibition of pieces by Danae Mattes, all of which evoke her fascination with water and rivers. An array of blues, in various shades, drip, flow, swirl, pool, and seep in these pieces, creating a unity and harmony within the exhibition.
Mattes' hanging piece, River Fold, composed of 270 pieces of clay and pigment-dipped rope, evokes a slightly swaying organic water surface, floating above the floor. Focusing on the bright blue strands, which twist and swivel like rivulets dancing down a window pane, one almost forgets the lighter colored rope. It feels as if a meandering river has been mystically conjured in the gallery space. Mattes poetically explains, 'When standing at the river's edge, the physical beauty of the riverscape surrounds and inspires.... A river profoundly reveals the fluid nature of present time...before the 'River' I stand in awe.'
River Fold is part of the current exhibition Where the River Widens, which is on display at the BYU Museum of Art through October 19, 2019.