Megan Atwood Cherry is from Sandpoint, Idaho and got her bachelor's degree in theatrical set design and studio art from Santa Fe College in 2003. In 2015 she got her MFA from the University of Idaho. Painting and sculpting are her mediums, but she uses a variety of materials within those artistic processes. Within her artworks, she focuses on giving tangible forms to foreign concepts and thoughts.
Cherry's piece Cat's Cradle is a fairly large art piece, its dimensions 74"x53"x140". The piece was completed in 2016 and was made from her "grandmother's and great-grandmother's afghans cut into strips" that stretched between two white structures that resembled hands, bringing to memory the childhood game titled Cat's Cradle, which is reinforced by the name of the piece. The pieces of fabric that are tied together are many different colors and create a very strong rope-like structure that contrast vividly with the two white hands. Because the piece is so large, it gives the viewer a zoomed in experience of a person playing cat's cradle, making them want to pull the strings and make the next move. I do wonder, though, what Cherry intended the viewer to get from the piece. Was she trying to remind them of a popular childhood memory or game that many people have associated with cat's cradle? Was she commenting on family ties in a literal and conceptual way? The concept of making it larger than life is also interesting because it places the viewer in a place that they could never physically be when they are actually playing the game. I have only played cat's cradle a couple of times, so my connection to the game is not very strong, but I was very intrigued by the large scale of the piece as well as the intense amount of details of the strips of afghan that made up the string. Is each one tied the same exact way as the next one? Does Cherry herself have emotional ties to her grandmother and great-grandmother's afghans? The details of this piece are exquisite and obviously create a lot of questions, at least in my mind.The Saranac Art Projects putting on different events to showcase different artists from around the area is great exposure for the artists, and also allows the viewers to see different art from maybe what they are used to. The goal of the project is very noble, and is an awesome thing that they do for the community and artists alike. Blanket Statements is a unlike any collections I have ever seen before, and makes me want to hear about all of the artists statements in regards to what their pieces mean, and how they think emotional connections and comforts are passed from generation to generation. This exhibition is a simple, yet beautiful collection of pieces that makes a huge statement.
