Exploring The Whimsical Art Of Gene Childers

By Cookie Steponaitis

photo by Cookie Steponaitis

photo provided Nature has insects in all shapes and sizes, but these original pieces inspired by whimsy would be a joy to see in any natural setting. Stop by and explore the art and the form of Gene Childers' Bugzzz.

photo by Cookie Steponaitis

photo by Cookie Steponaitis

Stopping by a local library to get the latest thriller is a good choice on any rainy Vermont summer morning. However, stepping into Bixby Memorial Library this morning was like falling with Alice down a delightful rabbit hole to a world where whimsy and imagination combine and you enter the magical world of artist Gene Childers and his incredible Bugzzz.
    Each piece of art is playful and humorous and created from objects that can be labeled junk, scraps and marginal items that Childers found in yard sales, free piles and thrift shops. “The primary elements that I try to bring to my work are imagination, whimsy, playfulness, humor, color, shape and texture,” shared Childers. “I love repurposing, recycling and re-imagining objects into art. Looking for off bits and pieces to turn into new creations is much like a treasure hunt. It is great fun to see how many dissimilar and unlikely things can be combined into a piece.”
    There is an array of some of the more than 200 pieces Childers has created over an eleven year period on exhibit at the Bixby. As you move from one bug to the next you are treated to creatures that enchant any age and stimulate the brain into a journey of imagery and intricacy. Childers is no stranger to art and in fact credits expressionism, abstractionism, surrealism and 19th century circus poster lithography, especially ethnographic art as the roots for his work.
    No matter where his ideas originate his talent is obvious and his work tickles not only the funny bone but a place in adult’s hearts that oftentimes gets cut off and tied down in the demands of the modern world. Childers expressed it best himself when he spoke to Bixby Library executive director Jane Spencer and remarked, “Creating this art helped me discover the child in me.”  
    While Childers describes his show as, “colorful, playful and fun,” it is in fact much more. During the hour this reporter spent dabbling in the Bugzzz Exhibit there were several hearty chuckles, a couple of awes, several perplexed stares and bubbling up from inside the heart a pure sense of delight and freedom. While a guest into the imagination of Childers, the childlike sense of wonder of shapes and forms is dusted off and again brought to the surface.
    “You never know what you will see to set your imagination free,” offered the artist on the label of one of his many works. So precious is the ability to create and so beautifully does self-taught artist Gene Childers accomplish his mission that the rain seemed to stop, the sun did in fact shine and time had no meaning because once engaged the imagination of any person likes to stay where it can create, envision and bring to live a celebration of art and sensibilities. Stop by and jump down the rabbit hole with Gene Childers’s Bugzzz. They have been re-purposed to purposely give your imagination and your heart a work out. People wanting to see more of his works can reach the artist at [email protected].