Traditional craft objects are charming, can add personality to a home in the form of a stained-glass sun catcher, or whimsy to a memory book with cut-paper profile silhouette, or even, in my experience, make that morning cup of coffee more enjoyable, because it is being sipped from a handmade mug. The artisans who create these functional objects do so with great skill, purpose and integrity, enriching our lives with their offerings.

For the exhibition Transparent, Translucent, Opaque the Geneva Center for the Arts is taking a slightly different view of the well crafted object. The artists in this show were chosen because of their roots in a making tradition that have grown into unique, personal expressions. The love for their craft is obvious as is each artist’s capacity for risk taking and experimentation. We admire the vulnerability that Victoria Belz exhibits in her sculptural hung glass pieces, created while maintaining a robust glass workshop and store right here in downtown Geneva. Alison Balcanoff stuns us with intricate cut paper artwork that is layered and stacked to make free-flowing and gorgeous reference to the natural world. Jill Birschbach’s ceramic sculpture are wonky and solid, yet have a playfulness and life to them that invites the viewer to get closer. Transparent glass, translucent paper, opaque ceramic in dialogue and homage to Illinois’s history of fine craft.