MMPA to host artist talks

“In the Making,” on view at the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts in Portland, runs through July 27, with an artist talk slated for 5 to 8 p.m. June 21.

The talk will feature Astrid Reischwitz (photographs and a new book), Sara Stites and Joan Fitzsimmons (a collaboration).

In the book “Spin Club Stories: A Visual Journey Through Tradition, Memory and Identity” ($56), Reischwitz follows a path through the lives of her ancestors, their layout of a perfect pattern and the mistakes they made.

Reischwitz explores personal and cultural memory influenced by her upbringing in a small farming village in Northern Germany. She uses keepsakes from family life, old photographs and embroidered fabric from the village to build a world of memory, identity and home. The Boston based artist takes cues from the old tradition of spin clubs in her village, where village women met to spin wool and create needlework— and share stories while they worked. She transforms this tradition of storytelling into a visual journey. Her own embroidered designs are partial representations of her ancestral linens, emphasizing the fragmentary nature of recollection. By following the stitches in these fabrics, she follows a path through the lives of her ancestors and converses with the past.

Stites and Fitzsimmons collaborated artistically and will talk about their experiences. “Joan and I are not just collaborators; we are fellow travelers on a journey through the ever-expanding landscape of art,” Stites says. “Our shared history traces back to the era of abstract expressionism, a  movement that defined the cultural milieu into which we were born. As we grew and matured as artists, we witnessed shifts in the art world. From the avant-garde pop of Andy Warhol to the boundary pushing works of Rauschenberg, we saw the boundaries of art expand in ways previously unimagined. As collaborators, we find ourselves at the intersection of past and present. At the heart of our work lies a shared commitment to capturing the essence of the personal narrative — the moments, emotions, and memories that shape our lives in profound and often unseen ways.”

The Maine Museum of Photographic Arts is at 15 Middle St., A3, Portland. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and by appointment on Wednesdays. See www.mainemuseumofphotographicarts.org for more information.