ZINC contemporary, a modish art gallery at Pioneer square exhibits emerging and mid-career artists from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The gallery is currently showing a solo exhibition of new collage works by Lynne Rotholtz, titled “re cast”, through February 3rd.

Rotholtz received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Washington and currently lives in Seattle, working in paper, textile, and paint mediums. You can check out the interesting exhibit from Thursday through Saturday (10:00 am – 4:00 pm) and by appointment.

Drawing inspiration from the legacy of a collector’s cache of vintage magazines and paper goods, Rotholtz’s mixed media collages transcend the typical boundaries of color, pattern, and line. Her work ends up being a form of targeted recycling—reconstructing new meaning from ephemeral objects. Unexpected collisions of pattern and mysterious shapes appear on the page as if floating in mid-air. She uses the tactile nature of collage—the layers, the glue, the weight of the paper—to explore new dimensions in the medium.

We spoke to the talented Lynne Rotholtz about her growing up days, the exhibit and where she draws inspiration from…

Seattleite: How were your growing up days like? How did you develop an interest in art?

Lynne Rotholtz: I was born in Portland, Oregon, but grew up in Edmonds, Washington. I had an early interest in art, but it became more focused in high school. I was at one point working to become an art therapist, but I fell in love with creating art rather than approaching it from a more analytical perspective. I appreciate the work of many artists but have dug deeper into the art of Charline von Heyl, Albert Oehlen, and Cecily Brown, to name a few.

Seattleite: Could you tell us a little bit about the exhibit?

LR: I refer to these pieces as creatures from out of context. These pieces interact with each other in the space. There’s a bit of weirdness, eeriness, uncanniness, and an impression of movement. I like that they have depth, that there might be something hidden, and that the viewer can’t be sure that they’re perceiving the whole image. That if they blink something might change.

Seattleite: What is the thought behind the name “re cast”?

LR: I went with the title “re cast” because this collection of work is about decontextualizing imagery and then reconstructing and forming something new—a new context. It’s this newness that is most interesting to me—how ideas, motifs, colors, textures change when recycled and removed from their original setting. I like how many meanings this title has available. You can cast a lure, cast a spell, cast in bronze, cast off a boat, cast aside something that’s no longer serving you. Color has a cast, a play has a cast of characters, a fire casts a shadow. The word is made new in a new context, too.

Seattleite: What kind of materials did you use and how long did it take?

LR: I used paper ephemera from various sources—mostly older magazines, ink on Mylar, 100% cotton paper substrate, and a heat sensitive film adhesive called BEVA 371. The process of creating each piece takes about three months, but that can really vary depending on the size of the piece and the level of complexity.

Seattleite: What is your design process like?

LR: I first spend time perusing my stash of already cut elements—laying them out, trying lots of different combinations. At this stage I’m not really focusing on any one theme or line, texture, or color—just exploring. Collage is one of the best idea generators. It’s sort of like doing quick drawings, working without any real direction. This usually leads to an idea popping into focus.

From there, I dig through my stash of precut elements or go on the prowl for something new—scanning through magazines for elements that might work well together. I like to have lots of choices. It then becomes a matter of addition or subtraction until the piece feels right. After that, I remove elements and take a photo of each stage of deconstruction to use as a reference for putting the piece back together after the BEVA film has adhered.

My inspiration for these pieces mainly came from the paper elements themselves—and the process of forming many combinations. I enjoy the puzzle.

Seattleite: What can we expect to see from you in the future?

LR: More collages. My next plan is to create my own elements using oil paints and acrylics and build collages with these. As I work on this series I’ve been increasing the size and complexity of the pieces, so I have some ideas for new work on a different scale.

ZINC contemporary        |       119 Prefontaine Place S, Seattle       |         (206) 617 – 7378