Artist Spotlight: NELA -- Paintings

NELA, Portrait Fragment Series: AA2015, Watercolor and india ink on Yupo paper, 17.5 x 23"

Paintings is the inaugural exhibition of Yugoslav-born visual artist and educator NELA. Comprised of water media work on Yupo paper, NELA’s paintings are presented in various series and groupings, all inspired by different facets of the human psyche and imagination.

NELA, Distorted Series: A Protester, Mixed media on Yupo paper, 25 x 19"

Themes vary from raw and emotional, or meditative, to distorted twisted realities that subvert their source inspiration. NELA melds her particular cultural sensibility with thoughts and events of a contemporary nature. 

NELA, Spiritual Series: Golgotha, Watercolor and acrylic ink, 13 x 19"

As a contrast to her often-crude subject matter, NELA uses a sleek  painting surface, Yupo Paper. As such, uncommon swirling textures fill her canvas, leading the viewer through a visual journey, narrated by the drips and brush strokes that fill the paper.

NELA, Wolf Series: Pack Mentality, Rage, Watercolor on Yupo paper, 19 x 12.5"

These works celebrate the marriage of the elusive and unpredictability of Yupo Paper with equally fugitive water-based media, effectively mirroring the artist’s philosophies and her ever-changing, living spirit.

NELA, Spiritual Series: Virgins of the Rocks, Watercolor and acrylic ink on Yupo paper, 19 x 13"

See the exhibition through Saturday, April 14th.

Meet NELA at the Artist Talk: Saturday, April 7, 3 p.m.

Artist Spotlight: Claudia Kim -- Ripple

Claudia Kim, Ripple 108, Mixed media, 31.5 x 47"

Living in a scenic area, Claudia Kim could see and experience the ocean and the mountains daily. She could sense and hear the surf and the wind. She always wondered what was beyond the sea. What kind of world was under the sea? What did it look like? What causes a ripple in the water? Those curiosities fueled the motivation for her paintings, Ripple, a depiction of conflict intermingling with harmony. 

Claudia Kim, Ripple 103, Mixed media, 30 x 40"

Using a process of attachment, Kim creates different layers of paint and materials. This repetitive process creates depth and abstract shapes in her paintings. The compositions may appear to be random, but each line, shape, and color is balanced against a corresponding one to form a tapestry whose expression is calibrated and intense. To her, beauty is not always harmonious shapes pieced together, but set against turbulent, uncertain backgrounds. Despite conflicting forces, her paintings show the ripples of life’s pain and struggles, and in turn, reveal life's hidden glory. 

Claudia Kim, Ripple 1502, Mixed media, 45 x 60"

Kim’s paintings help us to understand what it means to be an individual with all the trials, tribulations, sorrows, and successes. Her works invites us to explore and search our own souls. It reconciles despair with hope, doubt with faith, darkness with light, and grief with joy. Because life is precious, we must embrace the moments of peace and live life to its fullest each day. 

Claudia Kim, Ripple 102, Mixed media, 28 x 28"

Kim’s paintings present the ever changing and complex nature of life from childhood to adulthood. Despite the pain, grief, and heartache she has experienced in her life’s journey, her paintings have become her rhythm and language, sending forth a ripple of hope for all to experience.

Claudia Kim, Ripple 1029, Mixed media, 20 x 72"

See the exhibition through Saturday, April 14th.

Meet Claudia at the Artist Talk: Saturday, April 7, 3 p.m.

Current Exhibition: Claudia Kim, NELA, Daniel Rutkowski

Tuesday, March 20 - Saturday, April 14, 2018
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 24, 5-8 p.m. 
Artist Talk: Saturday, April 7, 3 p.m.

Claudia Kim – Ripple

Claudia Kim, Ripple 104, Oil on canvas, 36 x 60"

NELA – Paintings

NELA, Portrait Fragment Series: Self Portrait, Watercolor on Yupo paper, 25 x 19"

Daniel Rutkowski – Strange Flora: A Foray Into Romance & the LED Dream

Daniel Rutkowski, Nebulous, Archival pigment print, 16 x 20"

Artist Spotlight: Brian Reed - From Semi to Abstract And Back

Brian Reed, Beyond the Circle, Oil, 60 x 48"

Growing up in northern Canada, Brian Reed would traverse the cold environments to travel to school in the dark in the winter months. The silver lining through his commute was the famed Northern Lights, Reed’s first introduction to color on a grandiose scale. The Aurora Borealis served not only as natural inspiration, but an organic and swirling kaleidoscopic dance of color. This experience set in motion Reed’s journey to investigate color theory and apply his ideas to canvas.

Brian Reed, Nebulus, Oil, 36 x 48"

Reed’s exhibition, From Semi To Abstract and Back, is a collection of abstract and semi-abstract paintings that encompass his relationship with color, form, and the ways in which they intersect. Bold blotches of paint and energetic strokes cover the canvases, referencing the abstract expressionists of the 20th century. Color is also in abundance here -- including vibrant reds and bold blacks, making each painting a visual pathway for the viewers with nooks of unexpected texture.

Brian Reed, Sunset Over Whitehorse, Oil, 36 x 48"

Reed cites his Norwegian grandfather as an inspiration for his work, not to emulate, but to stray away from. As his grandfather rarely diverged beyond somber blacks and grays, Reed takes a bolder approach to color.

Brian Reed, Migration, Oil, 48 x 60"

From Semi To Abstract and Back invites the viewer to see the progress that young boy viewing the northern lights has made. This body of work is a color study, but more so than that, an expression of the artist’s childlike imagination that he has never lost.

Meet Brian at the Artists Panel: Saturday, March 10, 3pm

Exhibition runs through March 17

Artist Spotlight: #Camolords – UNSEEN

#Camolords, Matter, Metal Wood, Paint, Vinyl, 71 x 41"

Camolords first exhibition at TAG Gallery, UnSeen, creates a conversation about race in society and the way people view one another in the US.

#Camolords, Jealousy, Metal Wood, Paint, Vinyl, 23 x 15"

By using two colors, the viewer is forced to examine the pieces to see what is being said in front of them and what is being said subliminally. As a result, these works are meant to be seen and experienced, not described.

#Camolords, Love Soul, Metal Wood, Paint, Vinyl,47 x 31"

#Camolords, Installation view

Meet #Camolords at the Artists Panel: Saturday, March 10, 3pm

Exhibition runs through March 17