Variations in Collage at RAG
The Roxbury Arts Group will be presenting an exciting new show entitled "Variations in Collage" from October 20th to December 2, 2007. It will be at the Old Bank Gallery, Main Street, Roxbury. The opening reception will be on October 20 from 4-6 pm. Sarah Gilbert and Susan Phillips, two artists who have been exhibiting for many years, both regionally and nationally ,work quite differently in the abstract. Yet , they similarly create densely inhabited canvases that reflect the interconnectivity of the natural and man-made worlds. Their works are drenched with light, color, texture and dimensionality, and invite viewers to pause and study their many layers.
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| Sara Gilbert |
Sarah Gilbert, who makes her home in Andes, New York, is a graduate of the Pratt Institute Fine Arts program, exhibits frequently and has won many awards. Her current work includes non-traditional botanical paintings in acrylic with collage on canvas. “I'm fascinated by flowers, mosses and small blossoms. They are at once so fragile and yet so enduring--a reflection of the human condition. The orchid, for me, is especially evocative. Its seemingly endless forms suggest human values, often so different yet often so historically repeated. I work to express this complex biological reality in my acrylic-collages by juxtaposing realism, ornamentation and textural abstraction to create images that blend contemporary sensibilities with historical motifs and photographs, and incorporating modern versions of ancient materials and pigments, ” says Gilbert of her work.
For over 30 years Susan Phillips has been an artist working in photography and, more recently, she has been showing mixed media collages. She resides in both New York City and Woodstock, NY. Her photographs have been exhibited at The Brooklyn Museum of Art and at the Bergen Museum of Art in Paramus, NJ as well as in numerous solo and group shows, and held in many private and corporate collections. In 1999, Phillips began the study of collage and created a new body of work in that form. Since then she has had several solo and group exhibits.
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| Native Spirit by Susan Philips |
“As an artist, my self-expression manifests through the art forms of photography and mixed media collage, working differently within each medium. When I photograph, I choose the elements that I wish to freeze in time. I respond to a whole, which can be seen within the camera's viewfinder. It is a conscious decision to arrange or capture natural lines, graphically appealing patterns, or the particular interplay of texture, light and shadow. I search for aesthetic possibilities in areas that the eye often overlooks. These may be found in the random placement of obj ects, in a pile ofdiscarded junk, or on pieces of building facades that have been cast away in demolition. In the darkroom, the composition may then be altered or other changes made.
This process is inverted in my collage work. Instead of a whole, I start with two or three components and proceed to manipulate them until an interesting unity begins to evolve. Creating something visually exciting from unrelated, preexisting objects, each with its own texture and dimensionality, is the challenge. Torn papers, scraps of metal, transferred images, layered paints, pieces of nature and bits of watercolor may all be used until each piece finds its own unique harmony. The subconscious gently guides while the eye and hand freely play.
Although the works are often abstract or seemingly without a subject, they may still reflect emotional states, suggest the passage of time, hint at landscape, or even trigger the recall of forgotten dreams or memories. The process is not predefined but open and serendipitous. The element of surprise is always energizing and joyful, even if it takes months to find the one last part or the final few brushstrokes necessary to render a piece finished.”
The Old Bank Gallery is open from 10 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday; from 1-4 pm on Saturday, and on Sunday by appointment. (607) 326-7908.