THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501060074
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Art review
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, ART CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
BEGIN WITH the suitcases - because Cher Shaffer's exhibit is a journey.
Start there, in a far corner of The Arts Center of The Portsmouth Museums, even though Shaffer's 1994 painted suitcases are not the most immediately eye-catching of the dozens of paintings and sculptures on view.
The suitcases seem to signify the end of one journey, and the stepping off into another. Besides the folksy cats and people, she has painted phrases onto her bags - ``What makes a cat stray?'' and ``I'm no cookie - I'm not made of sugar and spice.''
This is a woman's and an artist's journey, toward both inner and outer freedom.
Then, after eyeing the cases, work backward. Her earliest works on view, dating from 1981 and 1982, are orderly naive paintings of the lives and homes of poor rural African Americans. The paintings were made with apparent admiration, even envy, of their communal joy.
Later, her work loosened up, opened up. She began to dip into archetypal imagery, to paint from her unconscious. At times, the works resemble works by American Indians or Africans. Sometimes, the images are Picassoesque.
Through these pictures and sculptures, Shaffer shares her adventure in reshaping her own identity - coming to terms with her own life as a woman, mother, wife and artist with a Cherokee heritage.
In several ``Dance of Life'' images, she becomes bolder each time the image recurs. Written on one such painting: ``There is no choice but to dance the dance of life to the tune you hear in your head.''
Recently, Shaffer has split from her longtime husband and started a new life out in the country in Cutler, Ohio. She has a new companion who is supportive of her artmaking lifestyle and respectful of her strong spiritual direction.
In moving through Shaffer's show, titled ``Paradise Lost and Found,'' you can't help but feel you know this woman. You can't help but root for her.
The museum is at High and Court streets. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $1. Call 393-8543. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Cher Shaffer's exhibit of painted suitcases is on view at The Arts
Center of The Portsmouth Museums.
by CNB