NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Eclipse Mill Gallery will host "Pause", a two-person exhibit featuring the work of artists Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Professor of Art Melanie Mowinski and artist Debi Pendell, from Sept. 1 to 30.

 

The exhibit will be open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-4 pm.

 

An opening reception will be held at the gallery on Saturday, Sept. 9 th from 5-7 pm.

 

This event free and is open to the public, and refreshments will be served. Representatives from the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire will be in attendance to share information about the individual artist grants they award every year. 

 

Mowinski and Pendell were the 2023 recipients of this award.

 

According to a press release, Mowinski and Pendell have wanted to collaborate for years, and finally decided to pause their other work to make it happen. Within the exhibit, the artists ask us to pause time and consider something larger than our day-to-day selves and to ponder the deeper ideas of our existence. Time passing by so swiftly that we hardly notice it until it's gone is a common perennial theme, but time feels even more precious since we lost such a big chunk of it to the COVID pandemic.

 

Mowinski and Pendell consider these ideas, as well as A Book of Hours, a Christian devotional book used to pray. Books of Hours inspired several takes on "Books of Pauses," secular rather than religious but similar in use – a book to pause and consult for ideas to ponder, contemplate, consider. 

 

"First, take a pause: a temporary rest to linger in," Pendell said. "Then ponder: consider deeply; weigh carefully. How often to pause? How long to pause? What to do during a pause? What to ponder?"

 

The press release continued, Working separately, Mowinski and Pendell experimented with no particular outcome in mind and then wrestled together with how their divergent directions might become one cohesive exhibit. Large paper hangings create a sacred surrounding pause in time. Small paper wall hangings are reminder flags to pause and ponder. Prints on paper and works on canvas "picture" a pause, sometimes totally wordlessly. Tables , sculptures, interactive experiences, and lists of ideas to pause and ponder continue to grow and grow and grow.