Winter ’20 – ’21 Exhibitions

December 3, 2020 – February 25, 2021

Patricia Hollins – Gallery

I paint because it gives me pleasure and satisfies my urge to create. Since I am not an “a to b” type of person, and I’ve discovered that the work that delights me has a life and a timetable of its own. I rarely start one piece and finish it before beginning the next and, like a juggler, I could have five or more works “up in the air” at one time.  Something that I begin in June one year may not be finished for a year of two.  This cyclical approach to image development is interesting because it challenges me to see my work through the lens of time and to take surprising turns along the way.  For example, a small work on paper, “Connection 1”, eventually spawned a series culminating in the large Polyptych called “Dynamic Connections”.

There are several ideas that continue that resurface and find their way into my paintings. Doorways and architecture intrigue me because they seem timeless and because they hold a touch of déjà vu for me.  Family trips might spark an idea as was the case with “Road to Furnace Town” and “On the Way to Digby”.  Sometimes a new idea could come from sifting through a pile of old drawings that I keep in a box in my studio. “Dreaming Upside Down” is one of those. “Coeur de la Foret” was dream inspired. I find that images and forms that come unbidden are often the best and in the absence of a good dream, automatic drawing is my “go to” way of sparking ideas.

Morgan Ford Willingham – Gallery

This on-going series explores how natural beauty is masked by cosmetics that women use every day, and how the language of advertising is absorbed into the subconscious, where it constantly influences what women buy and how they perceive themselves. The text in this work is often appropriated from advertising slogans found in popular women’s magazines, and is sometimes difficult to read, signifying how the linguistics of advertising subconsciously attempts to persuade women to buy cosmetic products that alter their physical appearance.

In the newest phase of this series, the work references the symbolism of the female, Renaissance portrait. The portraits, often commissioned by a father or spouse,represented, not the physical beauty of its sitter but the wealth and stature of the commissioner.The self-portrait is used to investigate the various experiences of using cosmetics to commodify beauty, like the connection between the alteration of physical appearance to achieve societal acceptance.

Butch Rohrschneider – Atrium

The purpose of this show is to try to produce abstract paintings with a camera.  The main problem being:  where will I find the intelligent confusion of color, form, and texture that are inherent to this art form?  If I produce them myself, what would be the point of a camera?  Without the use of a camera, I might as well paint.  Walking through a construction site gave me an answer.  The mangled pieces of metal I saw put many abstract paintings that I’ve previously seen to shame.  The answer is the old, used, abused, reused, and unwanted products of modern society.  I began photographing junkyards, construction sites, dumpsters, railroad cars, and abandoned buildings.  Graffiti has also caught my eye.  Real magic can happen when one graffiti painting may overlap another graffiti painting.  Weather, such as rain and snow, along with all of the other elements of nature, can also play a part in developing the outcome of these images, especially when the paint is still wet.  An image completely unintentional emerges.  I enjoy seeking out, identifying, and photographing these unique images.  The results of my efforts are in the room/building that you are standing in now.

In the first phase of my project, I printed the image on photo paper, surrounded by a white border, completed with a black metal frame.  In the second phase of this project, I printed the image on canvas, which is then wrapped around a wooden frame.  I am treating each of these photographs as if it were an original abstract painting, where I will make only one print of each photograph.  Each of these works of art will truly be an edition one of one.    

Thanks to our sponsors for believing in the arts and supporting our gallery which is always free and open to the public!

**Sponsorship ensures the gallery is ALWAYS free and open to the public!