POWER TOOLS is an immersive installation creating an intimate experience with the everyday objects that power our devices. Plugs, power strips, and USB chargers have been reimagined as large scale soft sculptures which double as interactive plush furniture inviting pause, relaxation and reflection.
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday December 1 6, 2018 at 9pm
320B CANAL ST, NEW YORK, NY 10013
I took an art class in acrylic painting a few years ago, so I was very happy to meet up with the art teacher at her exhibition recently. Vian Shamounki Borchert was exhibiting at the Kentlands Mansion in Gaithersburg, MD.
During the exhibition, one of her paintings caught my eye: “The story remains untold” and so I asked her about it.
Vian told me it was done in the expressionist style because it’s an attempt to catch the psychological mood of the situation and of the model. Through conversation the model had earlier shared a little about her personal life. Then Vian as an artist captured in bold strokes, the flow of the model’s personality.
The successes or failures we all go through as we traverse this social landscape are part of life. It would be interesting if the model became the artist and revealed what she wanted to show the world.
There are images etched in our minds as we meet people in our daily lives. Depending on how we think, they are like snap shots for some and paintings for others. In life’s daily run, the subjects are often only useful for that moment. Important yes, and we are not trying to lessen their input in our life, nor belittle them as individuals. But more often than not their story remains untold until the next time we meet.
Let me suggest perhaps next time, that you find out how that person’s family is doing. Then with the eye of a master photographer or a gifted painter, catch the depth of the answer that is given. Is he or she happy, sad, fulfilled or still yearning a dream unrealised.
Your next move can be an important one: a soft answer can help heal someone’s soul.
I love meeting other artists and seeing their works. People interpret their creativity in widely different ways and so afford insight into how they take an initial concept and proceed to the final expression.
It was Monday September 30 and I was removing my wood sculptures at the end of my exhibition at the Arts Barn, in Gaithersburg Maryland. A lady introduced herself as one of the artists in the next show. She was Richardene Forrest-Thweatt a stone sculptor. Fascinating I thought, and made up my mind to see the full exhibit featuring all the artists.
JoEllen Murphy: Pastels.
Fall is here and so are the vibrant colors of nature. JoEllen Murphy’s pastels evoke the beauty of the time of year: many shades of red. Browns and yellows too. An award winning artist, JoEllen’s talent is shown in varying shades of color that blend or separate when and where necessary, within the confines of the area she has set for herself.
Domenic Cicala: Photography.
There is a trust that a person gives the artist as they sit or stand for an image to be taken. The depth of the photograph is then sometimes revealed. Often after many takes. In Domenic Cicala’s photos, you get a sense of insight into the subject and to borrow from the artist’s own quote, you are able: “To peer beyond the surface and extract some measure of the being deep within.”
Richardene Forrest-Thweatt: Stone Sculpture.
When I think of stone, rock actually comes to mind. Rough, jagged and often immense. Richardene Forrest-Thweatt gently brings out the inner design only the artist sees and then shares with their audience. She creates beauty in colors that I thought were reserved for other art mediums. It’s fascinating to see the variety of colors and shades from stone.
Melissa Miller: Oils.
Melissa Miller lives in Maryland and describes herself as a southern painter. Her brush strokes reflect an independent and creative spirit. She has an ability to trust her emotions or feelings about a place visited and loved, then present a style that accurately reflects the intended painting.
The exhibition which started October 4, goes on till December 1, 2013.
WOMAN IS KEY®