Her world is flat by design
You may not know Phoebe Ann Erb, but you may well have had her artwork all over your body. For decades, the Newton resident worked anonymously at her home as a textile designer. She painted designs that wound up covering thousands of yards of cloth - fabric that was used to make countless articles of clothing, and covers for chairs, sofas and such.
"Most people never think about who designs the print you see on a dress in a store," she said. "It's just not important to them, which is fine."
But Erb is acutely aware of the work of other textile designers whether she knows their names or not, and it's in homage to these unsung artists that she created her current art show, "A Pot of Flowers, a Table, & Art Drawing."
The exhibition, at the Newton Free Library through Oct. 30, is the visual equivalent of music sampling. Each of Erb's 30 graceful, clean-lined collages depicts a vase of flowers on a table beside a picture. Though every element is painted and then cut and pasted by Erb, each borrows from the work of mainly unknown artists from prehistoric times to the present.
In one, a vase with an Art Deco pattern holds flowers copied from a late 18th-century design and is placed next to a picture that is a detail from a medieval print.
"I've been delving into design history for decades," said Erb, 61, who has authored five books on period designs. "And one of the ways design works is that new generations have a new take on something that has been done before, and in this way, it becomes something new even though it's very old. So, I like the idea of combining things from different periods of time and in new situations."
But for all the visual quoting Erb does, each piece reflects her own distinctive passion for simple lines and lean designs, which she traces to her Pennsylvania Dutch roots.
"I loved going to my Grandmother Erb's house because it was so clean, so bare, so spare. . . . I still think a lot about her living room. I just have carried with me the sensation of order, the flat shapes, sort of sitting in harmony with one another with no clutter," she said.
The primitive-like two-dimensional designs in Erb's collages are a mirror of how she says she was hard-wired to see the world.
"It's like an affliction with me. I love everything as a flat object. I like to see things in flatness. Often, when I'm out looking at things or walking about among the buildings or trees, I suddenly see everything in the flat shapes that they are. That really is the way I look at things," she said.
The series is a new direction for Erb, who has shifted away from design work as computers have reshaped the business. "The way I grew up, we made everything by hand. We made our own clothes. We made our own food. We grew, canned, froze, jellied, jammed and so forth. So this business of working with your hands makes sense to me, but creating my designs on a computer does not."
So she's found herself shifting into fine art, but some habits are hard to break.
"My work as a textile designer was never signed, which is perfectly fine," she said. "But I still feel like if I put my name on a picture, it's like a blemish on the work. So you will not find my name on any of these. I guess I'd still rather remain anonymous."
"A Pot of Flowers, a Table, & Art Drawing" through Oct. 30 at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer St., Newton. Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 1-5 p.m. Admission free. 617-796-1360, newtonfreelibrary.net.
GALA OPEN STUDIOS: One building, 50 artists, and two days - together they add up to one knockout open studios event at ArtSpace Maynard this weekend. Now in its sixth year, this annual event has grown into one of the largest visual arts happenings in the region. How big? It drew 1,200 visitors last year.
Work on view ranges from sculpture, paintings, and photographs to fiber arts, jewelry, pottery, glass, and mixed media. Theater buffs can take a backstage tour of the Acme Theater as well, and award-winning classical guitarist Berit Strong performs at 5 p.m. Sunday for free.
Open Studios at ArtSpace Maynard will be held noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at 63 Summer St., Maynard. Admission free. 978-897-9828, artspacemaynard.com.
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