Paint By Needle selected as Critic’s Choice, East Bay Express

December 1, 2007

Critics Choice by Jakki K. Spicer

“Two artists use stitching as their medium in this show at the Rowan Morrison Gallery. Narangkar Glover embroiders and paints on her canvases, the most interesting of which is a color wheel in thread. The color wheel is usually a basic exercise in color theory, asking the artist to blend her paints so as to better understand the relation of one color to another. But Glover’s use of thread means that there is no organic relation; by its very nature one piece of string cannot bleed into and affect another. Yet, it does demonstrate the technique of embroidery — different stitchings produce different shades of color — and the tricks of the eye — different textures and juxtapositions of colors produce new colors. AkoCastuera’s works are another story entirely: dolls, scarves, and tapestries portray a combination of monsters, UFOs, and severed limbs. They belie their cuddly soft texture with their gory subject matter. “

Through Dec. 22 at Rowan Morrison Gallery, 330 40th St., Oakland; RowanMorrison.com or 510-384-5344.