Coming Exhibition: Lorraine Bubar, Anne Ramis, Katherine Rohrbacher

Tues. November 25 - Sat. December 20, 2014

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 29, 5-8 p.m.

Artist Talk: Saturday, December 13, 3pm

Mountain Lore, Lorraine Bubar

Lorraine Bubar, Denali, Papercut, 39 x 35.5 in

Lorraine Bubar's current exhibition was inspired by her Artist-in-Residency spent in Denali National Park in Alaska where she immersed herself in the diversity of life thriving in that vast wilderness. “Artists have had a long relationship with national parks, interpreting them in meaningful ways that inspire and enrich the experience for future visitors,” says Bubar. Her painterly, intricate papercuts illustrate the simultaneous strength and fragility of this mountain environment, while echoing the same strength and fragility of the paper medium. Mountains, with their inherent magnitude and mystery, have inspired travelers, climbers, writers, artists, and dreamers alike. Papercutting is an art form created in countries around the world, and in these cultures many tales occur in mountain environments - places that hold beauty, drama, and intrigue. Bubar’s addition of the narrative woven within her newest work addresses the tales that evolved from the mystique and power of the wilderness and evolved from the impact of illustrating a children’s book. The book, “Lullaby,” written by Debbie Friedman and illustrated by Bubar, was released by Jewish Lights Publishing this fall.

Landscapes: Fact and Fiction, Anne Ramis

Anne Ramis, What Next, Mixed Media, 16.5 x 26 in

Creating in the spirit of Robert Rauschenberg’s combination techniques, Anne Ramis applies her own combinative artistry to her latest body of work. Working within several different types of media, incorporating drawing, painting and collage elements, Ramis’ ethereal landscapes present a dual sense of foreboding and wonder. “This show combines earlier with recent landscapes,” says Ramis. “[These are] places that I’ve lived in and places that I’ve passed -- places that do and do not exist.” Lavender skies and jagged rocks form a winding path in works like “What Next” while verdant mossy abstractions and deep blues form surreal pools of water in “Giglio, Now.” In certain works, cut-out photographs of Ramis’ own dogs are dispersed among the rocks, as Ramis illustrates surreal terrains that act as a form of personal topography. The effect is that of a vivid dream, at once familiar and foreign.

Metamorphosis, Katherine Rohrbacher

Katherine Rohrbacher, Blossom, Oil on Canvas, 40 x 30 in

Poet Ovid pronounces in Book One of his mythological epic, Metemorphesis, “I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities.” Katherine Rohrbacher provides a modern meditation on transformation, posing the question of what it means to change -- whether artificially or naturally. In an era where physical perfection is held paramount, the lengths to which individuals may go to edit both bodily imperfections and age, is a 21st century crusade. Rohrbacher’s large format paintings offer a confrontational view of surface beauty. Charcoal and oil self-portraits offer a glimpse of the psychological impact of surgery in a series titled “Nose Job,” as Rohrbacher presents her own likeness as the face of change. Motifs of decaying roses and ceramic butterflies encircle other works, addressing metamorphosis directly, while illustrating the fragile, brief circle of life. A gallery installation featuring live flowers in jars that trace the actual dimensions of a casket will accompany Rohrbacher’s paintings and ceramic works for the duration of the exhibition, mirroring the same delicate stages of life and death that she confronts in her work. She will also show in New York at the Edward Hopper House in their 21st annual Small Matters of Great Importance Exhibition, on view October 25 through December 27, 2014.

Coming Exhibition: Camey McGilvray, Katherine Rohrbacher, Della Rollé

October 1 - 26, 2013 

Opening Reception:
Saturday, October 5, 5-8 p.m.

Artist Talk:
Saturday, October 19, 3-4 p.m.

Camey McGilvray, Re:Wired

Camey McGilvray, Seven Moons, Wire, Wood, Acrylic, 37 x 37 x 2 in., 2013

Mixed media sculptor Camey McGilvray further explores the wire medium in her latest exhibition. Beginning with a line drawing, McGilvray starts her process on paper before creating multidimensional mixed media sculptures constructed of wood and wire. “Wire does what you want it to do,” says McGilvray. “It’s malleable and emphatic.” Actual strings of wire are incorporated into every piece as a narrative is told through the materials of the work itself. Wire thus emphasizes line, bringing McGilvray’s sketches to life in geometric and twisted patterns. According to McGilvray, the effect is that of a painting in the air. Intense blues, violets and greens are incorporated in works including “Seven Moons” and “Deep Purple” as coiled wire and wood create a sense of depth and motion.

Katherine Rohrbacher, Through the Looking Glass

Katherine Rohrbacher, Lupine, Oil on Canvas, 60 x 60 in., 2013

In this series of self portraits, artist Katherine Rohrbacher’s own journey with lupus, the commonly described “invisible disease,” is brought to light. Both surface and texture play a powerful role in Rohrbacher’s emotionally charged paintings as the viewer experiences the artist’s hidden reality through her looking glass. As Lewis Carroll writes, “'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!” Whether fading behind bold wallpapers and textured glitter, or submerging and emerging from reflective bathtub water, Rohrbacher’s portraits offer varying angles of her personality while communicating the nature of her experience with lupus. The liminal spaces of that which is seen and unseen by others are made key motifs in her portraiture. In a piece titled “Lupine,” Rohrbacher depicts herself in black and white before vibrant flowered wallpaper while wearing the mask of a wolf - a nod to the original Latin roots for “lupus.” “Through the Looking Glass” marks the first of two solo exhibitions by Rohrbacher this year. She is also a two time award winner of the national juried exhibition, the California Open.

Della Rollé, Word Play

Della Rollé, Surf's Up, Stainless Steel, 2013

Expanding upon her previous figurative work, sculptor Della Rollé takes on a more abstract approach to the depiction of the human form. Working in a field that is primarily visual, Rollé's work intertwines both the visual and the verbal together, narrowing in on the abstractions of the human body. Rollé's laser cut stainless steel creations carry a sense of humor in a webbed series of words. "Written words define who we are," says Rollé, a former English teacher. "Words in sculpture connect us to a place or feeling." Witty constructions include a piece titled "Create" - a figure with arms outstretched embracing creativity, while "Surf’s Up" includes a wave and surfer composed of California's most famous surf spots. "I see humor and beauty in all body types and find that the humor intrinsic in human behavior is reflected in the body," says Rollé. These reflections become both figurative and literal in the artist's exploration with metal materials and in her light hearted approach to sculpting.