In conjunction with Bobbi Meier’s solo exhibition, Imperfect Rituals in RAC’s Freeark Gallery, January 8 - February 18th, 2023, curated by Judith Mullen.

20 pages

…………………..

He drew a circle that shut me out—

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle and took him in!

—Edwin Markam

Circles, the universal symbol representing notions of totality, wholeness, original perfection, The Self, the infinite, eternity, timelessness. More common everyday usage of ‘the inner circle’ or the family circle helps to bring this experience under the proverbial magnifying glass as a range of emotions in response to daily life events are experienced in close proximity. These expansive inquiries along with the intimate experience of family dinners are at the core of Meier’s body of work, Imperfect Rituals.

Beginning with circular castaway pieces of needlepointed fabric, Meier adorns, stitches, and manipulates each piece, as she remembers emotional experiences encountered during family dinners. Using her “Sunday Dinners” tapestries as a springboard for further inquiry at her Kohler residency, Meier slip-cast organic fabric shapes into porcelain objects, creating wall sculptures that rein in the emotion found in her soft fabric pieces, now replaced with hard edged frames and slick, shiny, surfaces. The interiors of her soft sculptures, once hidden, are now revealed becoming hard and contained. In the final and third iteration of this deep dive into family dynamics, “Centerpieces for Matriarchs”, Meier places broken and abstract organ-like porcelain objects inside circular Kohler vessel sinks, now used as bowls, giving each piece a safe place to dwell. Soft to hard, hard to soft, there is a continual search for balance and perfection, placed inside the metaphorical family circle for safekeeping.

—Judith Mullen