New Exhibition Featuring
Joan Horsfall Young, Darlyn Susan Yee, and Fielden Harper
February 1 - February 26, 2011
Reception:
Saturday, February 5, 5- 8 PM
Artists' Q & A Panel:
Wednesday, February 9, 7 PM
Joan Horsfall Young: abc...z
In her latest exhibit, abc...z, local artist Joan Horsfall Young explores the beauty in simplicity with her 12" x 12" oil paintings of fruits and vegetables, depicting one for each letter of the alphabet. Her series of twenty-six images celebrates what she calls "the great sustainers of life." Young's inspiration for this series came from her recent visit with her granddaughter in Shanghai. She explains "I needed a way to teach my young granddaughter the American alphabet, and I found the fruits and vegetables in the local farmer's market to be great didactic tools for teaching. In the first days we conquered 'T' for tangerine and 'L' for leek." As a follow up for more practice for the little one, Young started to paint the vegetables and fruits as they went along. "I learned a lot about conscious eating and how these everyday market treats could nourish our bodies and our souls. I hope these paintings will capture that same nostalgia for others too."
Darlyn Susan Yee: Metamorphic Metaphors
In her new exhibition, Metamorphic Metaphors, Darlyn Susan Yee creates a series of body-like cocoons knitted with brightly colored commercial yarns to symbolize our essence, style, and transformation as we proceed through life. Suspended from the ceiling, each piece mimics the cocoon of a not-yet-hatched butterfly swaying with the breeze to evoke thoughts of dance or play. "In each piece, I try to explore how our personalities and physical characteristics are still evident despite our efforts and societal requirements to conceal them," explains Yee. Ms. Yee prefers using hands-on processes to achieve the breadth of texture and form in this series, combining both hand knitting and manually manipulated machine knitting techniques.
Fielden Harper: Parallels
In Parallels Fielden Harper explores thematic similarities between her local landscape and distant scenes from Greece and Turkey. After a recent trip to Greece and Turkey, Harper was inspired to juxtapose scenes from both areas with well known landmarks from her own hometown. "There were many scenes in my travels that reminded me of similar places in and around Santa Monica. As different as these places seemed on the surface, the artist in me started to see the universal patterns emerging in the disparate," explains Harper. Creating unique pairings of two separate paintings, Harper invites her viewers to discover the universal essence emerging from two seemingly different vistas like the Getty and the Parthenon; or the skyline of Istanbul and the towering palms of Santa Monica. "It is amazing to be on the other side of the world, and be continually reminded of home," states Harper.
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