NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Jan. 30.
PORT ANGELES — When some catch sight of Sue Roberts’ figures, they’re taken aback.
Yet others are drawn to these creatures: larger-than-life busts with windows in their chests. The windows reveal the subject’s emotions, often symbolized by water.
In a sense, Roberts said, these works of art are like her children.
She’s brought four of the busts, plus 16 other sculptures of people and water, to the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center this week for a show titled “A Family of Sorts.”
Admission is free to the exhibition, which opened Thursday and will stay on display through March 15 in the center’s gallery, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Today, the public is invited to two more free events: Roberts’ talk at 4:30 p.m. and a reception with refreshments from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
This is the first Port Angeles foray for Roberts, who lives on Guemes Island just off the coast from Anacortes.
Recognize yourself
She has a feeling that people here will recognize themselves in the art.
Look at the faces, and they say one thing. Peer into the window, though, and you’ll see what’s going on inside.
“A lot of my work is about us as people, interacting with each other . . . We all go through the same stuff,” Roberts said.
“We all carry baggage,” added the artist, who has moved all over the nation in her 54 years.
She grew up in Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., came to visit a friend in Seattle in 1990 — and right away felt she was home.
These days, Roberts sculpts images — crashing waves, for example — to depict a woman’s thoughts.
“I want people to think, ‘I’m not the only one with these “crazy” thoughts.’ We all have them.
“You know what? It’s OK.
“We are all in the same boat.”
Humor and a little edge
Roberts believes in infusing her art with humor — and “a little edge.” Not everybody goes for this.
“When people say my work is ‘creepy,’ it’s like they’re calling my children creepy,” she quipped.
“A Family of Sorts” awaits visitors to the indoor gallery at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. The gallery is surrounded by another public attraction: the 5-acre Webster’s Woods art park, open from dawn till dusk every day of the year.
At the center Saturday, March 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Roberts will teach a workshop for experienced artists.
In the class titled “The Portrait Bust in Clay,” she will guide students through the process of building self-portraits reflecting their personal and cultural experiences.
The fee is $125, and more information can be found at www.pafaced.org or by phoning the center at 360-457-3532.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
