Helen Hoffelt, Professor Emerita at Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD), and professional photographer and Char Norman, CCAD Dean Emerita, and fiber artist have come together to produce contemporary work based on the idea that natural forces affect and reflect the human condition. This collection of two-dimensional and three-dimensional work addresses environmental issues.

Columbus Cultural arts Center. February 18 through March 26, 2022

Wehrle Gallery. Ohio Dominican University

Helen Hoffelt, Professor Emerita at Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD), and professional photographer and Char Norman, CCAD Dean Emerita, and fiber artist have come together to produce contemporary work based on the idea that natural forces affect and reflect the human condition. This collection of two-dimensional and three-dimensional work addresses environmental issues as they relate to indigenous communities. 

Peggy McConnell Arts Center. Worthington, Ohio

Conceived around the theme of eco-psychology, this exhibition provides a reverential look at nature. The need to respect, protect, and reconnect with nature, as well as recognize the absolute inter-connectedness of all things is emphasized in Norman’s commitment to using natural elements, handmade paper, fiber, and other traditional methods to construct objects of veneration. Through woven forms, collaged materials, papermaking, and multi-media constructions, Norman aims to transform the gallery into a sacred space in an act of devotion, questioning pressing environmental issues our society continues to turn away from.

Springfield Museum of Art. 107 Cliff Park Road, Springfield Ohio 45504

Nurturing Reverence features environmental fiber sculptures created by Columbus artist, Char Norman. Combining found objects both man-made and natural, including fiber, paper, seed pods, and twigs, each sculpture serves as a relic and a tool to explore the symbiotic relationship between nature and humans.

Not Sheep Gallery. Short North Arts District. 2-person show with Catherine Bell Smith

The veneration and worship of nature is an integral part of my work with all things interconnected and nothing dominant over another. As we continue to face critical issues affecting the environment, social equality, ethics, and morality, the need to understand this symbiotic relationship and embrace eco-psychology becomes more apparent than ever. In the past I have presented nature in sacred attitudes and spaces in order to bring about a deeper understanding of the importance of stewardship and recognition of the role nature can play as a teacher, therapist, and healer. In recent news, we often hear of ecological disasters and the destruction, decay, or blatant disregard of the natural world. Each time I see or hear such a report, I feel as if I have been gut-punched. This new work has evolved in response to this negativity-going from the reverence of the beauty of nature to the abhorrence of its destruction. Multiple images of ecological disasters, rusted artifacts, and ghost images of what once thrived, serve as a slap in the face as to what we are doing to our universe.