NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Octavia Art Gallery announces Open Vessels In Situ, a two-person exhibition featuring sculptural works by Erica Larkin Gaudet and Mitchell Gaudet.

Erica Larkin Gaudet has been fabricating sculptural work for over 30 years. By forging, welding, applying patinas and leafing, she creates ethereal forms that oscillate between abstract and figurative sculptures. In her new series entitled Open Vessels, the works are created out of copper with surface finishes from metallic luster to matte aged patina.

Open Vessels

My new series of sculptures, Open Vessels, are hand forged copper abstracted forms inspired by elements of nature, human-nature interaction and in particular stages of growth. The abstracted vessels and underlying structures represent a metaphorical open container, symbolic of ones formed identity, the continual unfolding of human potential in the core of being and openness to what could be. –Erica Larkin Gaudet

“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed.” – C. JoyBell C.

After receiving her BA in Sculpture from Loyola University, Larkin Gaudet founded a metal studio specializing in large scale sculpture and custom furniture. Her work has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and public art spaces, such as The Sculpture for New Orleans / Poydras Corridor Public Art, The Joan Mitchell Foundation Public Art, Louisiana Presbytere Museum, Downtown St. Joseph, MO Sculpture Walk, Scope Basel (Switzerland), Hibernian Sculpture Park, and the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. Larkin Gaudet has taught metalworking and sculpting workshops both nationally and internationally.

Mitchell Gaudet is a glass artist who uses the hot cast process to create multiples often assembled in conjunction with vintage found objects and relics. In his new series entitled In Situ, his mixed media assemblages contain an array of symbolism with themes spanning from sacrifice, destruction, false idols and evil to that of choice, protection, and pure love.

In Situ

Often, at archeological sites, objects are found whose use and purpose are unknown to us. Clues may be found in what lies in situ around the object. My work incorporates a found or made object as a source/starting point, surrounded by glass and steel as additional narrative elements to redefine, or embellish the object as a quasi-

historical object. Most work is also displayed on funky museum style armatures and or under glass. -Mitchell Gaudet

Gaudet received his MFA from Tulane University and his BFA from the Louisiana State University. He has had solo exhibitions at the George Ohr-O’Keefe Museum, MS; Palos Verde Arts Center, CA; Gallery Inferno, LA; Longue Vue Gardens, LA, among others. He has received awards from The Joan Mitchell Foundation, New Orleans Museum of Art, Arts Council of New Orleans, and grants from Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Louisiana Division of the Arts. His works are included in collections including the BioInnovation Center, LA; Joan Mitchell Center, LA; Toyama Institute of Glass, Japan; U.S Consulate, Turkey, among others.

In addition to Larkin Gaudet and Gaudet’s sculptural work, the couple has led the development of two neighborhood arts revitalizations, created and managed artists spaces and established two art galleries, Studio Inferno Gallery & Studio Waveland + Gallery.