Found objects exquisitely shared at D.M. Hunt Library show

FALLS VILLAGE — The Art Wall at the D. M. Hunt Library is branching out into broader territory this month, featuring works by an artist from New York City in addition to works by Sarah Martinez (who is so local that she can walk to the library from her house).Garth Kobal, library board vice chairman and a member of the art committee, said this might be a trend that continues, with one local artist and another from farther afield. The art shows have become a significant source of income for the library, he said, and a goal is to attract a wide range of interest.As it is, the shows are attended by viewers (and buyers) from several area towns; Cornwall and Sharon in particular are well-represented, he said.The crowd changes, depending on whose work is being featured. And sales also rise and fall depending on the work.“Some artists sell very well,” he said. “Others sell just a few pieces.”The next show is titled “Humanatural History” and includes works by Martinez, who lives in the stone-clad Facchin house, on Main Street; and by Jackie Mock, a New York artist whose work was recently featured at the Wassaic Project summer art festival. Martinez and her husband, Brook, and son, Leo, (who is 3), moved here from Brooklyn about two years ago. Martinez grew up in Washington Depot and, while pregnant, she and her husband would sometimes visit her parents and drive around Litchfield County, dreaming about houses. They ended up purchasing the Facchin house, which has a notable exterior and is somewhat legendary in the town. The stonemason who lived in it had an unhappy obsession with a woman who lived here and built the house as a monument to her. Martinez said that when her family moved in, there were still small altars in some of the walls dedicated to that unfulfilled love affair. Both parties have since left the Northwest Corner; the house has had several owners in recent years.Martinez has turned one formerly uninsulated backroom into a sunny upstairs studio. Her work has changed substantially now that she has left urban Brooklyn. Where she used to do abstract oils and acrylics that were suggestive of landscapes, now she does detailed work in pen-and-ink and watercolor of natural objects that are, often, brought home by her son and husband after walks in the woods, such as butterfly wings and feathers. Jackie Mock is a native of Huntington, Long Island, now living in Manhattan and working in a studio in New Jersey. She describes her work broadly as “found objects in shadow boxes.”Her work is subtle and ironic and she builds the boxes herself, usually from wood that is already old or that is refinished to appear old.One piece she will show at the library is called “A Cure for Hiccups.” It is a small wooden cabinet on bun feet with tiny doors of various sizes. Each door is fitted with tiny hinges and tiny door pulls made from furniture tacks. The doors open to reveal old-fashioned apothecary bottles and other objects that can cure hiccups. “Sometimes people tell me they don’t understand my work,” Mock said. The key is they are just what they appear to be: The cabinet full of cures for hiccups is just a cabinet full of cures for hiccups.It is beautiful, and quirky. Each door has tiny letters inside describing the individual cures. Mock said that presentation for her is 50 percent of the art; the other 50 percent is the concept. The cabinet will sell for $5,500. Also in the show will be several text-based pieces, such as one that features every period from a copy of the novel “Ulyssess.” The periods are cut out with a knife, in tiny squares, and are assembled on the page in a pattern that looks like a giant cloud and mimics Stephen Dedalus’ circular odyssey through Dublin on June 16, 1914. Prices have not been set yet for the text pieces.Martinez’ work will include watercolors and prints that will range in price from around $50 to around $1,000.The show opens April 26 and continues to May 31. There will be a reception on Wednesday, May 1, from 5 to 7 p.m.