Interesting Exhibit of Enamel by Martha Banyas.

Guardians: Restoring Balance - Sculpture (catalogaccess.com)

Guardians: Restoring Balance

Martha Banyas began serious studio work with enamels in the early 1970s. She has taught college classes and workshops, and has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 1985, she started ApaIni, a folk art gallery in Portland, OR. For the next 20 years, she traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, Middle Europe, and Turkey as a dealer in ethnographic and tribal arts and crafts. During that time, her personal work evolved in many different directions from making masks and life-size puppets in Bali to continuing to work in small scale enamel sculpture and jewelry. In 2005, she returned to full-time studio work in enamels. "Guardians: Restoring Balance" is part of her "Valley and Shadow: Another Life" series which narrates her journey as she receives a breast cancer diagnosis. As she underwent treatment for the tumor in her right breast, Banyas gained a new understanding of time and wanted to spend the time she had left making art in her studio. She wanted to make meaning. Banyas describes "Guardians: Restoring Balance" in the following way: "Artists collect art. I've always felt a special connection to these three figures. They occupy places of honor in my studio. For many years they have watched over me while I worked, serving as muses, confidants and critics. As I began this series it seemed both logical and auspicious that they should appear and assume the roles of supporting characters or guardians. From left to right they are the Javanese Dancer, Petruk the Joker and Blue Jaguar. Each of them brings its own strands of history and memory."