Damascus Road | Don Bracken

Don Bracken is inspired by nature and incorporates many natural materials in his art. Because his work derives heavily from both the physical landscape and the archeological traces of civilization, he often combines materials such as clay and acrylics with local earth, natural pigments, vines, leaves, roots, and seed pods. He incorporates rich texture, evocative form, and elements of color, light, and kinetics in pieces that describe both life’s ephemeral transience and its constant evolution, as well as documenting the human capacity to cause decline, disorder, and chaos in the natural world. Bracken has received many awards, and his pieces are in numerous American and international collections.

Fire + Water | Kathi Packer

After receiving two degrees, KATHI PACKER returned to school and received her BFA from Hartford Art School.  She has had several solo exhibitions in Connecticut and New York and has taken part in many group exhibitions. Packer has also been the recipient of several awards and fellowships.  Her work is represented in collections including:  The New Britain Museum of American Art; University of Connecticut Medical School and Galleria Nacional, Costa Rica. 

Packer’s work in the Five Points Gallery show is drawn from a series titled “An African Tale” and is based on several visits that Packer has made to Africa in which she has witnessed both its bounty and some of the worst droughts ever recorded. According to Packer, “My work tells a story about water…of an African experience now and in the future.  Many of my paintings focus on a single moment when herds of zebras and wildebeests approach a waterhole...Other paintings project a far more threatening apocalyptic scenario of a bone dry river, a persistent drought, a marka mbaya that could replace the venerable waterhole with silence.”  

Fire + Water | Stephanie Lauretano

Stephanie Lauretano manipulates materials and processes to tell of her life identity in her works. A Connecticut resident, she received her BFA in Painting and Glass from Alfred University, her MS in Education from the University of Bridgeport, and her MFA in Painting from the Hartford Art School. Utilizing process as content, Stephanie has focused on burning and markmaking since 2007. Recent shows include AB EX 2015 at Artspace, Hartford, CT and A Balance Between, Works by Wendy Wolf, Stephanie Lauretano and Kerry St. Laurent at GoggleWorks in Reading, PA. A middle and high school art educator, she has also been an Artist in Residence at the Farmington Valley Arts Center in Avon, Connecticut.
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In commenting on her work, Lauretano states:  “I am searching for a delicate balance in my work; one that portrays my search for harmony in chaos. I am interested in a balance of simplicity versus complexity; control versus noncontrol; and of absence versus presence. I set up these relationships but can’t foresee exactly how they will end up. Working in systems is a means of boiling down and clarifying my intentions. These systems take the form of repetition, and the process of repeating marks is at once meditative and an order in and of itself.”

Helena Starcevic

Originally from Southern California, Helena Starcevic moved to New York City in the eighties, working as an RN.  Submerged in the art and culture of the city, she initially studied fashion and fabric at FIT.  Eighteen years ago, she began studying ceramics.

Starcevic’s work begins with the construction of multiple smaller forms which are then assembled into larger compositions or installations.  This repetitive study becomes a meditative exploration of each as an individual or idea. The surfaces are unadorned, monochromatic.  Each component is imbued with a symbolic, ritualistic aspect that gives it its own identity, strength and purpose.  When they are combined, a new meaning and purpose occurs.  They reference the spine, the air we breathe or a cellular structure.  Some hang in space; but they are all communities.

“It was camping expeditions in the California desert which formed my appreciation for the stark beauty of nature’s deceptively barren landscapes. My ultimate goal is to bring this deference to my work.”

Besides participating in numerous group shows, Ms. Starcevic is thrilled to have her first major solo show here at Five Points Gallery.  Her studio is in the South Bronx.