The doors, windows of perception

Whenever Karin Swildens looks at a door, she sees different levels of passages — for life. With that thought in mind, she sculpts clay into works of art that are meant to express a message of hope and optimism.

“Doors can open passages,” Swildens said.

“The whole thing for me is a metaphor for my searching of a spiritual idea.”

The Los Angeles-based artist has a series of about 35 clay pieces titled “Doors” that will be on display starting Friday at the Creative Arts Center Gallery.

The exhibit, “Windows and Doors,” will also feature the paintings of Jeanne Townsend and the photographs of Kathlene Persoff.

Swildens has been working on her “Doors” series since 1995. She works with clay and sculpts pieces that have little resemblance to conventional doors. Instead, her sculptures look like structures or dwellings in a village with doors and windows incorporated in them.

“Because I see the door as a passage, a place where you go through, most of the sculptures have doors or at least openings,” Swildens said. “There is always a place which you go through.”

Swilden’s artwork is personal and reflective, she said.

“The idea came about when I was in a tough place at one point,” she said. “You are always in a tough place when you become inspired.”

Swildens didn’t let life’s challenges get in the way of having a positive outlook for the future. She started pondering the saying “the light at the end of the tunnel,” and one-by-one created sculptures that reflect the message of hope and optimism in that saying.

“I think that without sculptures I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am,” she said. “There are bits of me everywhere.”

For the Dutch-born Swildens, sculpting became a part of her life when she moved to the United States.

Swildens lived in Morocco for 10 years and studied art in Paris.

She started drawing and painting first, but it wasn’t until she moved to the United States that she tried her hand at sculpting from wood.

“She’s just an expert at what she does,” said Frances Santistevan, gallery director at Creative Arts Gallery Center. “She has a positive attitude about life and about everything in general. I think her sculptures, this series, shows a lot of that.”

Swildens is one of three artists who will exhibit their work at the arts center.