I have always loved nature. The delicate patterns and mysterious designs have always captivated my imagination. My work is technically challenging and seeks to explore the interconnectivity of all biology. My current focus is on the skulls, shells and animals forms. What is left behind. Not only are they potent symbols of mortality but they also reveal how closely related we are. Even animals as different as horseshoe crabs and deer have similar traits. All of these shapes hold us together and define our forms. It begins to feel like we are all the same thing just in a different pattern.
This beautiful piece echoes many of Dorey's other pieces in this show, combining the ethereal with the physical. A graceful heart made of deep royal blue glass poses with its arteries flung upwards. It suggests to me a heart that has leapt joyfully out of whichever body it once dwelt within, to soar up, up and away! At the same time, the heart, so different from the fanciful red symbol that we use on Valentine's cards, looks here close to its real-life counterpart: a small, vivacious animal, the essential polyp of life that beats within the cage of our chests. The sight of this object, so intensely blue, so fragile, is a poignant reminder of the fragility and preciousness of all existence. - MP
I am
a contemporary artist residing in Warwick, RI. I have been
creating and experimenting with acrylic paint for 6 years. My
struggle with anxiety drove me to find an outlet; somewhere I
could calm my thoughts and find inner peace. Putting those
emotions and energy into my artwork allowed me to find who I am
while simultaneously progressing and developing techniques that
define my unique presence in the art world. I Transition through
different series frequently. Through my journey my work has taken
on ideas of dream-like landscapes, visual energy and pop art. The
series displayed presents my love of the Ocean State. I have taken
inspiration from the coastal cities and beaches and reimagined
these scenes within my realm of abstract creativity. Some pieces
give off feelings of serenity and stillness while others depict
the energy of rough tides and storms.
I have studied with and been inspired by Providence artists Bob
Dillworth and Anthony Tomaselli. I am self-taught with no
education in art other than one abstract workshop. I exhibit
primarily at art festivals around the state in hopes to not only
allow others to view my work and relate to it in their own way,
but also to inspire others to create, be different, and stand out
in the world.
This elegant composition in black, white and grey merges the rigid buildings and awkward angularity of cranes with a glorious free-flowing drizzle of pure white on the surface of the painting. The fine white lines straddle the scene like a web, owning it in a way that the land-bound constructions in the distance cannot. It symbolizes (for me) the artist's gaze, darting this way and that, plucking at the city, taking only what he wants from it, leaving the rest. The noise, the stink and struggle of urban life are subtracted, leaving only the abstract pattern of dark and light, angles and solids. - MP
I am
a self taught sculptor, painter and woodworker, exhibiting as a
member at the DeBlois Gallery.
Self taught through written text and applied understandings from
working in multiple trades.
I attempt to express motion and link formal designs inside my
abstract work.
This exhibit features sculptures made from trees I have known
since youth and hand carved in my final tribute to them.
This piece is visible in the Gallery's window. From a distance, it looks like a leaping flame, golden orange. Up close, it reaches up and away from its constraining base, a marvellous study of motion in stillness, as if the wood is dreaming of setting itself alight. For me, it echoes in microcosm Bernini's marble sculpture, "Apollo and Daphne". In that famous piece, the nymph strains to escape the god's caresses by turning into a laurel tree. In Berry's inspired carving I feel we can see the nymph already transformed into wood, now straining away from the Earth itself. No longer in fear but with longing to merge with the Absolute. - MP
My
art is always inspired by the landscapes around me. Most of the
linoleum block prints were done from little views in my yard or
walks taken nearby during the Covid Quarantine. At that time I
found it very difficult to immerse myself in my painting process.
But I could design, carve and print lots of linoleum blocks. I
added details to the prints with acrylic, which slowly led me back
to painting again.
I am not interested in reproducing what I see literally. Instead I
want to translate what I see into paint and paintings. I love
color: mixing colors, applying color, and describing things with
color. I use big brushes, flat brushes, round brushes, fan
brushes; palette knives, charcoal sticks, pencil stubs; sponges,
stamps, and fingertips. They all create different marks and
textures that are similar to what I see in nature.
Spaces between tree branches become shapes that hint at a
flattened picture plane. With a vague horizon line I want to
create surfaces that imply depth as well as the multiple
perspectives and time frames we experience moving through nature.
In the two Triptychs, “ Walking with Mattie” and “Around the
Reservoir” it is all happening at once!
Other paintings help me process my responses to the climate change
I can feel happening all around me. I am fearful for our future
and mourn all we are losing now.
“Rim Fire near Yosemite 2020” and “Shoreline Series #15”, attempt
to describe these changes. I have to include mention of this when
I try and describe the beauty and intensity of the natural world.
Howe captures the swirl of the water and salt scent of the moment when a bird, riding the wind, might survey the tide's harvest looking for something to eat. It's a wonderful evocation of the random generosity of the ocean – the garbage that we discard, returned to us "enriched" with shell fragments, with shredded seaweed – presented as if from a seagull's point of view. All the elements in the piece are in motion, even the small black sticks along the lower edge, which appear to float above the sand. We can sense the tide pulling away, exposing more sand, more treasures. We hold our breath, hovering with the wind in our feathers, beak half-open, eyes bright with hope. - MP
Click on the buttons to the left to view each artist's work.
Beautiful Frida, with her unibrow!
Leyenberger’s porcelain sconce makes the Mexican artist’s
radiance visible: a light bulb allows her to literally shine
from within, her skin glowing ivory-rose. Her face has
become so well-recognized that we do not need to see her
eyes and nose.
Yet we could also ask: has the real person, the warm,
breathing presence and the physical pain she endured during
her life, been replaced by this glowing symbol? Have her
smouldering dark eyes, with their searching gaze, the mouth
with the faint mustache and the intense expression - have
these been obscured by our idolization of her? Leyenberger’s
clever erasure forces us to seek out what is not there. To
see beyond the mask. To find the light within. - MP
