"A friend who knew [my husband] Bill
and I were interested in American Indian
crafts called and said she had found
something for us at a flea market in
Saline, outside Ann Arbor," she explains.
It turned out to be a ceramic humidor
from the Aleutian Islands (where the
practice of weaving can be traced back
thousands of years) and covered with
knotted cedar and "false embroidery"
twined into the structure, resulting in an
exquisitely old-fashioned charm.
Wetsman notes that the price was very
reasonable, and would probably be about
"200 percent more costly today."
Years ago, Jean Sosin, from Bloomfield
Hills, joined a group of New York collec-
tors touring the Haystack Mountain
School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. An

Known for using refuse material, such
as cereal boxes, newspapers, even staples,
Rossbach's work is a stark contrast to the
contemporary Japanese baskets also on
display. They are on loan from members
of the Michigan Oriental Society.
"Japanese artisans do not experiment
with refuse materials the way Americans
do," explains Ross. "They use natural
materials, traditional techniques like
plaiting and twining. But the forms are
really beyond the functional roots of the
basket. They suggest a lot of other things.
They imbue awareness of the basket as a
symbolic vessel by joining the ancient
with the modern while reinventing tradi-
tion.
"This is the reason I love the idea of
this exhibition," Ross continues. "It's

Left: Aleutian basket, possibly a
tobacco fan• front the collection
offanice and Bill1Ve- tsman

248_626_1176

*Previous purchases excluded
* All Sales Are Final
Sale on selected merchandise only

showing the history, from the earliest
forms of basketry to the most modern,
whether they were produced for func-
tion, produced for export or produced as
sculpture. And people will see the range.
When Ross had her gallery, the question
she heard most often was, "Why is this a
basket?" "Often, the pieces are sculptural
and don't seem to relate to a vessel at all,
or they are not made of natural materials,
which people usually associate with bas-
kets. But I think that seeing the historical
pieces next to the modern ones will help
put that in perspective for people.
"Baskets are just comprised of empty
space. They're a visual dialogue between
skin and skeleton, inside and outside,
contours and profiles. I think that when
you see these early pieces, you will be
able to glean the connections. It may be
a philosophical one, but I think people
will get it."
Jean Sosin agrees. "All of my baskets
are contemporary. That's what I was
exposed to," she explains. "When I went
to the opening of this show, and saw the
old baskets, I thought they were so
exquisite. I just flipped. I never realized
that so many different cultures had such
wonderful work. It was really an eye
), I
opener.

33

"Baskets" runs through Dec. 3 at the
Alfred Berkowitz Gallery at the
University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Monday-Friday; closed Nov. 25-26.
Admission is free. (313) 593-3592.

9 am to 10 am......40% off
10 am to 11 am.....30% off
11 am to 6 pm.......20% off

On the Boardwalk

Right: Zulu (Durban), telephone
wire basket from. the collection
of Loren and Stephen Burton

avid collector of glass, Sosin was search-
ing for works to add to her collection.
There, she came across a basket "and was
thrilled by it," she says. "Years went by,
and I was never exposed to basketry
again
When Linda Ross and Arlene Selik
opened Royal Oak's former Sybaris
Gallery, which specialized in contempo-
rary decorative arts, she visited, again on
the hunt for glass. "I knew nothing
about basketry," says Sosin. But these
lovely women had such wonderful
pieces. I give all the credit to them for
my collection," which consists of 14
pieces, all of which are on display in the
exhibition.
"And I developed a nice one. I always
bought what I liked and was never influ-
enced by galleries. But in this case I was,
because they only offered the most tal-
ented, unique, top-of-the-line pieces,"
she says.
Among them are pieces by Ed
Rossbach, considered the "granddaddy of
the contemporary basketry field," says
Linda Ross, who now runs a floating
gallery operation called Linda Ross
Contemporary/Art+ Projects and acted
as a consultant for "Baskets."
"[Rossbach] gave artists permission to
experiment with other mediums, to
express themselves more metaphorically.
In a time of Abstract Expressionists, peo-
ple had never thought of basketry as art
before. It was ceremonial, agrarian, func-
tional — and Rossbach gave it new
meaning."

THIS FRIDAY ONLY
November 26th!

910930

Complete

Thanksgiving Dinners

a la carte

Tuinpkin or

with dinner orders

32418 Northwestern HWY • Farmington Hills. MI 48334

(Between Middlebelt fi 14 Mile Rd.)

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8-8. Sat. 9-6. Sun. 10-4

WWW.vincyarddeli.com

11/19
2004

55