E X P E R I M E N T A L
E X P R E S S I O N S
On View July 16th-September 4th, 2021
Recognizing a creative act as an experiment can ease the weight of seriousness and allow room for free-flowing ideation. In our exhibition EXPERIMENTAL EXPRESSIONS, 6 artists navigate their respective mediums through creative spontaneity and emotional expression. The artists in this exhibition seek balance between inner narratives and outside influences, expanding upon their individual discoveries through sculpture, drawing, painting & mark-making.
This group exhibition features the work of Atticus Adams, Melanie Grein, Patricia Finley, Deidre Adams, Carol Browning, and Ben Strawn
Press Release (pdf)
Price List (pdf)
Atticus Adams
ATTICUS ADAMS’ sculptural work is inspired by the nostalgia of summers at his grandmother’s house. From frequent passes through the screen door, to large hydrangea bushes & fiddle head ferns outside and chenille coverlet bedding; Adams’ sculptures are touchstones of happy times.
Artist Statement (pdf)
Resume (pdf)
Atticus Adams
Chenille Bronze
bronze mesh and mixed media
56x51x3
$5200
“I like to think of my work as Neo-Appalachian Folk Art. I grew up in the mountains of West Virginia, steeped in traditional folk art. Several members of my family were self-taught artists, deeply involved in such crafts as wood carving and quilting. Making tangible objects is definitely part of my family heritage, – I come from a tradition of using simple, easily available materials for creative expression.”
“Metal mesh is a beautiful, flexible material that allows you to explore shadow, transparency, and massing in endless ways. The material lends itself to these biomorphic shapes, which aren’t necessarily intentional . . . The sculptures seem fragile but are actually quite resilient—like nature itself.”
Atticus Adams
Litchfield II
aluminum mesh and mixed media
64x69x4
$5200
Melanie Grein
MELANIE GREIN presents a new body of work that projects buoyancy; a visual upward force that resists and transcends the descending weight of worry that surrounds all of us. Grein’s paintings, which explore relationships of space, line, color & texture, interpret land, sky and water to offer calm and solace.
Artist Statement (pdf)
Resume (pdf)
“This body of work is focused primarily on buoyancy. A visual upward force that resists and transcends the descending weight of worry that has surrounded all of us recently.”
“My paintings, which continue to be about relationships of space, line, color, and texture; interpret land, sky and water to offer a little whimsy and joy balanced with calm and solace.”
Patricia Finley
PATRICIA J FINLEY presents works from her experiments with ink. In some pieces, she seeks to reflect and interpret the natural world by exemplifying the softness of natural color, the subtle movement of streams, the simplicity of pure color and the elegance of natural forms. In others, she fully embraces the brilliant depths that resin can create by using jewel-like colors in a way that compels the attention of the viewer. In all works, color is the underlying theme, result and purpose behind Finley’s creations.
Artist Statement (pdf)
Resume (pdf)
“Color. If I had to pick the one thing that I like, make that love, about art, it’s color. I love the way that resin highlights and accentuates color. Whether the color is mixed into the resin or whether I pour clear resin over ink, color is the underlying theme, result, and purpose.”
“In some of my work, I often seek to reflect and interpret the natural world by creating art that exemplifies the softness of natural color, the subtle movement of streams, the simplicity of pure color and the elegance of natural forms. With other pieces, I fully embrace the brilliant depths that resin can create by using jewel-like colors in a way that compels the attention of the viewer.”
Deidre Adams
For DEIDRE ADAMS, making abstract work is often about solving problems of her own creations: put some lines and shapes here and there, then figure out how to keep them company. Sometimes they play well together and sometimes they fight. Is it a dance, or is it a boxing match? Adams’ pieces present a constant and intriguing dialogue of color, form and texture.
Artist Statement (pdf)
Resume (pdf)
“Try to imagine yourself in a situation in which you are pretty much stuck in one place, unable to go anywhere, except maybe to the store for essentials once every few days. Every moment spent outside of your designated space might be fraught with dangers unknown and unknowable. This might go on for some months, perhaps a year or even more, but you would have no idea when or even if the life you once knew might return.”
“The more you felt a prisoner, the more you would long to go somewhere, anywhere, to places you’ve been, to places you will go as soon as this is all over.”
“As you let your mind wander, you dream of new of sights and sounds and smells, shapes and colors and movement, words and conversations, patterns and textures. For the present, though, glimpses and fragments of past and future travels are all you have.”
Carol Browning
Unlocking the sights, sounds and movement of nature significantly influence CAROL BROWNING’s work. By taking moments in time from nature and creating a lyrical visual event on canvas, she hopes to evoke an emotional connection to the observer. Browning presents visual symphonies on canvas, an expression in mark-making and vibrant color that emphasize the rhythms of life.
Artist Statement (pdf)
Resume (pdf)
“Growing up in Colorado, I have learned to appreciate the deep and at times mysterious beauty of our environment. It has taken many years of painting to fully connect to my surroundings. My intention is not to recreate what I see but to paint what is felt. “
“My art is not a window but a vessel that contains my dreams, experiences, emotions and spirit. The paintings pull me in to the vast landscapes of color, pattern and shape. I often refer to my paintings as visual symphonies on canvas, expressive mark-making that emphasize the rhythms of life. “
“My process involves combining glazes with impasto layers of paint connecting line and organic shapes. Color, value and composition play a vital role in finding a balance between chaos and serenity. As my work progresses the marks become more expressive and the experience is an adventure in self-discovery. By making art I strive for a connectedness in knowing myself in relationship to the world. “
Ben Strawn
BEN STRAWN's newest works are predicated on a practice of automatic drawing executed in charcoal on paper. The drawings are then coalesced into collages on canvas and further worked in paint. Strawn’s constructed images become worlds of form, abstract landscapes of shape, color, chiaroscuro, and movement.
Artist Statement (pdf)
Resume (pdf)
“In abstract expressionist realms one is immersed in a spatial landscape; the drawn mark creating a feeling of things changing and morphing. They are etheric realms. Etheric Abstraction.”
“In this group of paintings, I have been working with bringing together the drawn traces of the hand with color. How do you marry the monochromatic charcoal drawing and the color loaded paintbrush into one picture plane? How do you depict the etheric in the concrete world of manifest form?”
