A Mix of Media

The strains of Sam Cooke, Josh Groban, then Mozart fill the air. The sculpted dolls of Anita Trezvant fill the space – her own commercial gallery. Anita, ageless by her own non-admission and owner of Hope Gallery in Bristol, is one of the few pure gallerists left in Bristol County.

Newspaper clippings adorn one wall of her 15-by-16-foot studio, articles about her artwork over the years. A second wall holds shelves which, in turn, hold the many beads, paints, clay and thread used to create her award-winning work. A third wall holds binders which, in turn, hold photos of the art she has professionally created over the past 17 years. The fourth wall is not a theater audience, although they come, too.

The fourth wall holds racks with even more art supplies like cloth, air dry clay, floral tape and wax. Three tables dot the floor: one for her Elna sewing machine, one for her felting machine and the third used for design elements. Large plastic storage drawers under all the tables hold fabrics, ribbons and dried plants.

Anita, Newport native and Portsmouth resident, brings much of the lore of Native America and Cape Verde to her mix (not mixed) media figurative sculptures (aka art dolls). A former executive secretary for a branch of the government and special education teacher, Anita started out as a member artist of the Hope Gallery in 2005, before taking it over in December 2007. She co-founded Artisans by the Bay, which has produced numerous sales and exhibition events in the East Bay and Newport.

Her art dolls possess names like Mama Wata, Nubian Queen, Mystic Warrior, Truth Seeker, Wind Spirit, Wrath, Totem, Shape Shifter and Spirit Chaser. Inspired by the myth and legends of Native Americans and Africa, ancient people and “honesty,” Anita’s work depicts her belief that man is capable of tracing history and transforming it into contemporary thoughts and feelings. Her own art history began by simply sewing her own clothing. That advanced as she grew into making, “rather primitive dolls for myself and my children over the span of more than 30 years,” she says.

This is how she describes what she does:

Original mixed media sculpture using cloth: “The head and face are sculpted first. The head size determines the body size. I use a technique of clay over cloth on some of the body parts. The hands and feet I like to sculpt last. When using cloth, I use sawdust to stuff the body. These figures sometime take about two months to complete. I finish up with hair design (handmade wigs), clothing (sewn by me), beading, wax.”

Original mixed media sculpture using wire/floral tape: “The body is wire skeleton covered over with floral tape. The tape is covered over with air dried clay. The body is sometimes covered over with free-form peyote beading or croqueted beaded thread,” adds Anita.

She has used her artistic and personal skills to attract 26 (and counting) other local and regional artists to participate at Hope Gallery. She promotes artistic diversity through numerous mixed (not mix) media. “First of all, I do art because it makes me feel like I fit in the scheme of life. Art completes me,” says Anita. “As for the public, it is great when I sell a piece to a happy customer. The ‘wow, I love this piece,’ is the reaction I most love. This year I will be adding my works to Hope Gallery. Being a gallerist has placed my creative juices on the back burner.”

Those juices began with her mother and brother Luis who always pushed her to create. People who enjoy unusual sculpture visit her gallery often. Why? “My art is a combination of many different materials. The bead work, recycled jewelry, clay, cloth, etc. is a style that draws many peoples’ attention,” says Anita. “I did not want to hear, ‘oh that’s been done before.’ I wanted to do something totally different. I did not want to do total sculpture. Since I knew how to bead weave, sew and sculpt, I felt that doing the blending of all the mix media in my work really took the art to another level.”

Her best compliments have involved a customer’s love for her attention to detail and her originality. She dismisses those few observers who ask, “Are you doing voodoo?” “The best thing someone can say is, ‘I have never seen anything like this before.’”