HOLDFAST - Portland Press Herald Review
In early summer 2023, I was invited to be part of HOLDFAST, an exhibit at Zero Station Gallery, Portland, ME. Fourteen of my fiber works were included in the show. In addition to the exhibition, I had the great pleasure of holding an Artist Conversation with Jeannet Leendertse. The following text if from the exhibition announcement:
HOLDFAST: Sailors have long tattooed these words on their fingers, this phrase can also be traced back to Dutch sailors who had the saying “houd vast” meaning “hold tight” or “hold on”. To a sailor, “fast” is a term meaning to be tied securely or to make the rope tight. It can also be said that to hold fast is to have conviction in one’s beliefs. HOLDFAST is also evocative of the sea, it’s connection to the sailing and the rock weed and kelp morphology, yet it also lends itself to the work of weaving and an artist’s conviction in an idea long enough to follow it through to completion.
The exhibition was reviewed in the Portland Press Herald by Jorge S. Arango. In the article, here is what he had to say about my work:
Eric Stark trained as an architect, a fact that confirms his abundantly apparent understanding of structure and organic flow through space. He weaves – astoundingly freehand – sweetgrass constructions around black rocks he collects along the shore. A piece like “Topo” can certainly feel, when viewed from above, like a topographic map come to three-dimensional life. But it might also be read as mimicking the currents of seawater around a stationary rock. The way “Fold” perches around a pointed rock reminded me of the way barnacles and mussels stubbornly cling to rocks or wharfs. These are infinitely wonderous sculptures that both hold fast and undulate freely.