Art spotlight: Nancy MacKenzie

Fiber artist Nancy MacKenzie is known for her wall-mounted sculptures and wearable art (coats, collars and capes) made from such unconventional materials as pyrometric cones, plastic netting (as in onion and potato bags), baling twine, abacus beads and Japanese silkworm nets. Often in vivid colors, these pieces are outspoken yet disciplined. More recently, the Stillwater artist has engineered quieter, wall-mounted pieces from found, organic materials such as attenuated branches of apple, willow and red dogwood, joined with waxed linen thread. Elegant, even poetic in their neutral palette, they are formal explorations of materials, texture and positive and negative space, the latter of which is sometimes filled with precisely cut pieces of Japanese paper. Viewed collectively, the pieces suggest the choreographical notation for a lyrical dance in which we'd all like to participate. Proving to be a willing dance partner are the functional pots of Wisconsin ceramist Simon Levin, whose simplified forms project a monumental presence.