August 15 - September 14, 2019
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Susan Clinard |Inside Out| East Gallery
Waiting Room #3
Mixed Media, 89" x 55" x 36", 2019 |
By carving wood, forming clay, bending wire, collaging paper, and using found objects, I hope to reveal something that you already know but have never felt or considered before —- someone else’s story or beauty —- so that in turn you see yourself reflected. I am captivated by the subtle nuances in life, the mundane flipped upside down to reveal the poetic, what hope might look like, how a piece of artwork brings one to tears, finding joy in an object’s form, how anxiety might be a knotted ball of twine while openness and acceptance might be represented by a concave space, how art can initiate change … all of this gets woven into my art making.
I have been a working artist for over twenty-six years and a fervent observer of life for as long as I can remember. My work is an exploration of nature’s forms, distorted and perfect, found and inspired. It tells stories, helps us connect and speak about our shared fears, beauty, and struggles. In all my work, I am most concerned with staying honest to myself, to the process of creation, to my materials, and to the subject matter I choose. |
Christine Breslin | A Suspension of Stereotypic Perception | TDP Gallery
Edison, Peru
Archival Pigment Print 30" x 44" |
This work is an exploration of a documentary subject using an alternative, historic process, the wet collodion process, which is a technique I’ve begun exploring. Funding support for my artist’s expenses to Tunxis Community College from Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation, and from the President’s Discretionary Fund at Tunxis CC, has made it possible for me to pursue this exhibition. My family and my own personally-held beliefs are what guided my exploration. I set out to create work that is handcrafted and combines the look of both historical and contemporary images, while interlacing different photographic techniques and multimedia.
Thirty years ago this fall, I began a journey to Colombia to bring home our newly-adopted daughter, Mariah. The 1980s were a dangerous time in Colombia—the cartel was bombing newspaper offices in Bogata and assassinating judges, and Colombia was on the U.S. State Department’s advisory list of countries too risky to travel to. This gave my husband and me a heart-wrenching decision to make: do we take our five-year-old son with us and possibly risk a kidnapping? Do we leave him behind and possibly make him an orphan should something happen to us? A coworker of my husband’s, Anita Silver, volunteered to go with me to Colombia! What a wonderful gift that was and it began a long friendship and bonding with our new two-month-old daughter. From the moment I met Mariah and all the people involved with her journey into our lives, my own life changed. I was opened up to a new experiences with Latino families and their love of children and family. I was exposed to a different culture and language that I’ve been enthralled by since that trip. The work here reflects my perceptions of the changing climate in the U.S. to immigrants. Since I personally relate to this through my daughter, it has touched me deeply. We are a country of immigrants since the first person from the Old World stepped onto the shores of the New World. The only people I believe can claim rightful ownership of this country are the Native Americans, and how have we treated them? Last year I traveled to Ellis Island Museum of Immigration to see a wonderful exhibition “The New Americans,” by my mentor and friend Jill Enfield, and while there, once again I was struck by the poetry of Emma Lazarus. The famous last lines of this poem on the plaque at Ellis Island are those you’ve probably heard many times, what has happened to those beliefs? “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Through my interviews with all of the subjects several common themes have surfaced: Most of the Latino Immigrants have left their country of origin for opportunities to better their lives here, and have worked hard to stay here. Many have had to leave their families behind while they worked here to make a better life for them; all of them love this country–even though many of the subjects said they feel that as people “of color“ they also feel like the “other” in this country because of the hateful rhetoric and actions of some people. Still they love and believe in our democracy. My work resulting from the wet collodion process is far from perfect. The process lends itself to many mishaps, scrapes, dust and strange things that happen when the plate is coated with collodion throughout the many steps of the process giving it a painterly quality. At the same time, there is a look that results when using the large format camera that’s very different from the results rendered with a digital camera. Another photographer said to me that if I want the images to be without flaws, I should just shoot digital images. So, I have embraced the imperfections. My photography is a way for me to explore topics that I might not otherwise have the opportunity to explore. In this case, I have fallen in love with the wet collodion process, its antithetical aspect to digital photography, the alchemy involved, the mixing of two centuries of photography and the use of the large format camera—and because it is an historic process, it reinforces the historic connection between the subjects, immigrants and this country. Christine Breslin August, 2019 |
8th Annual Connecticut Printmakers Invitational| West Gallery
Amanda Lebel
Photo Credits: Yaquelin Shephard |
Curated by: Amanda Lebel
Curatorial Statement:
As a former participant in the Connecticut Printmakers’ Invitational, I was honored and excited to select this year’s artists. I wanted the exhibition to show the diverse nature of contemporary printmaking through many mediums, contents and styles. This year’s participants are a mix of artists; some more established, and others that are just breaking through, and some of the artists work mainly in printmaking while others work in a variety of media. Margot Rocklen’s surreal landscapes feel as though they are a glimpse from our impending future, fraught with the perils of climate change and global environment concerns. However, Margot uses simple seeds and pods to convey a sense of hope that something will grow and give rebirth from these barren landscapes. Christopher O’Flaherty woodcuts are dense with texture and imagery. His careful use of spaces causes a strange, disjointed perspective for the viewer, making them just as disoriented as the subjects in the work appear to be. Annie Wildey’s etchings from her Cape Series are a mix of realism and abstraction, much like the natural forces shaping the wild Atlantic shores of Massachusetts. By allowing this mix to take shape organically, she has used the textures and richness of etchings to vividly portray the beaches of Cape Cod. Michael Siporin’s figurative monotype and relief prints are brightly colored and full of texture. They are a part of his “Green Screen” series where lights are projected on the works, in a direct reference to today’s media driven culture. By using such transient techniques, he is able to make statements about the impermanence of imagined, as well as real, spaces. Emily Larned is a graphic designer who uses letterpress as just one of her chosen mediums. Her works are incredibly topical in 2019, and her use of feminism and social justice as an inspiration is often seen in her art by using historical documents as a jumping off point. Deborah Weiss’ monotypes feel as though they could come from this world or another. They have an airy quality to them as the textures and colors move the viewer around the page and create a momentum for the viewer to enjoy as they contemplate her use of technique and touch. Irene Bednarczyk’s lithographs have a dreamy, surreal quality enhanced by her expert use of touché washes. Her spare and rustic colors beckon back to a time rooted in tradition, but her subject matter challenges us to look inward, as well as forward. Sarah Sparkowski’s mixed media prints, while beautiful, have a quiet violence to them, and the themes of submission, submersion, and discord lurk just below the surface. Her work asks us to reflect upon our cultural norms, and their relevance in our changing world. |
Pheobe
Stone Lithograph, 15" x 22" |
Irene Bednarczyk
My recent work involves creating drawings and prints the way one would find images in the clouds: intuitively and without much planning. Figures come forth from marks and shapes that do not initially hold any meaning and some boundaries are a little fuzzy, just like dreams we try to remember in the morning from the night before.
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Wellbeing is Our Birth Right
Letterpress print from wood type 17" x 11" |
Emily Larned
I have been publishing as an artistic practice since 1993, when as a teenager I made my first zine. For me, publishing as an art practice involves researching, editing, writing, designing, printing, hand-binding, and distributing. It is an intellectual activity, an aesthetic activity, and a passion project, uniting head, hand, and heart. I have several different publishing projects, and Alder & Frankia is the name of the imprint I use for publications that are (1) collaborations with other artists, thinkers, doers & friends; and/or (2) anthologies and reissues of radical archival material which encourage us to remake our worlds. The alder is a birch tree that flourishes in unexpected places thanks to its symbiotic relationship with the microorganism frankia, which lives in its roots. The alder feeds the frankia sugar, and in return the frankia converts nitrogen into a compound that enables the alder to thrive.
While researching the 2017 Alder & Frankia book “Our daily lives have to be a satisfaction in themselves” (documenting 40 years of Bloodroot, the feminist vegetarian restaurant and bookstore in Bridgeport, CT), I spent a lot of time in Bloodroot’s archive at Yale, reading leaflets they sold in their store in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. I was fascinated — and alarmed — by how much some of the material still resonated today. The works in this exhibition are the first in a series of reissues which amplify and graphically reinterpret historic feminist ephemera. What ideas, strategies, and tactics from the past can we borrow to bring forth a feminist future? Included in this show are unique installation versions of Alder & Frankia pieces that also exist as inexpensive multiples. Net proceeds from Efemmera Reissue #1 will be donated to the Black Women’s Health Imperative, and net proceeds from Efemmera Reissue #2 will be donated to the National Organization for Women. |
Morning Paper
Monoprint, 31" x 44" |
Michael Levine
Michael Siporin Levine is a visual artist, working in drawing, printmaking, video and installation. Blending autobiography, history and invention, Michael uses a mixture of observation and process to create imagery with open-ended narratives. Through technique and process, he allows an initial idea to change, abstract, and evolve. Using drawing as a foundation he lets process inform decision-making while working in various printmaking techniques, collage, as well as video, animation, and installation. Working with and against a technique encourages his experimentation with the medium, allowing a greater opportunity for chance and discovery to play a role in the process.
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Drinking From the Fountain
Woodcut 41" x 56" |
Chris O'Flaherty
My recent drawings and prints depict teenagers in the suburbs looking for a sense of escape through small house parties and other mischievous behaviors. Drawing from personal experiences, the work is semi-autobiographical, and relies on the combination of memories and imagination to create the narrative. The awkward characters that fill the pictures are constantly in a state of falling in or out of the pictures. With arms flailing into the picture, the characters are often cropped abruptly and in sensitive areas such as their necks or wrists adding to the awkward compositions. The in-consistence and shifting view offers a playful look into a world of binge drinking and strange love triangles.
This series was heavily influenced by early 20th century German Expressionist woodblock prints where I found inspiration in the expressive use of black. Soon after studying the works of Kirchner, I began to incorporate this black along with a strong pop element into my own woodblock prints. I was looking to balance humor and horror within the work by conflicting use of bright colors and black. Additionally, the use of decorative cut papers and excessive patterning became a focus. |
Winter Reverie Reflected II
Monoprint, 40" x 28" |
Margot Rocklen
Margot Rocklen began making prints at Carnegie Mellon University, where she majored in Graphic Design. She studied printmaking at the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy. Margot is on the arts faculty of Gateway Community College in New Haven. Before beginning her teaching career she worked in the printing and advertising industry. She taught design, illustration and typography courses at Paier College of Art and the Cooperative Arts and Humanities Magnet High School in New Haven.
Ms. Rocklen’s printmaking techniques include: monotype, Japanese woodblock, polymer plate intaglio, pochoir, collagraph, and viscosity color printing. Her mixed media work often combines printmaking with drawn, painted, collaged or digital material. She prints by hand or intaglio press. In April, 2019 Margot and four other members of the Printmakers’ Network of Southern New England displayed their work in China, at the University City Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art. In conjunction with the exhibit they conducted lectures and demonstrations at the Academy. In May 2019 Margot’s print Autumn Sequence: Waiting Four was awarded the Weiss Sisters Prize for a Print at the 118th Annual Juried Art Exhibition of the New Haven Paint & Clay Club. Dr. Elizabeth S. Hodermarsky, Sutphin Family Associate Curator of Prints, Photographs and Drawings at Yale University Art Gallery, juried the show. Margot’s style is narrative, with a touch of irony. She uses elements from her sketches and photographs to develop a composition and color palette that reflect her point of view on social and environmental issues. Margot’s objective is to suggest rather than define meaning. It is important to her that viewers recognize the inspiration for a print and why it might be significant. |
Envelop
Digital, Lithography & Monotype 18" x 25" |
Sarah Sparkowski
The new subject matter I am exploring has helped my artwork evolve tremendously. I now have such an intensity about this work that I feel compelled to explore the idea across all mediums. My subject matter is a commentary on the factory farm industry, zeroing in on the slaughterhouse. I am examining the line between innocence and ignorance, narrative trope and clinical reality, sacrifice and rape. Though my images do not overtly describe these realities, this undefined gray area is the primary driving force behind my work. I add unexpected elements/components to each piece, just enough to throw the viewer off balance. I believe art is more effective when the viewer has to engage with the work rather than being strictly confronted. It is important to remain somewhat elusive in the subject matter leaving the viewer to open up their own relationship with the piece.
My work consists of found images of animal organs, skeletal structures and other animal body parts, which I distort in my work. A female human figure accompanied by a halo or crown also takes center stage in my compositions. The figure adds a much-needed quality to balance the other imagery: the ability to create life rather than destroy it. The halo/crown is important to the composition and symbolically represents power or a power we are supposed to trust, respect, and honor. In addition, I overlay a variety of hand drawn elements, such as, symbols, diagrams and mapping to tie the piece together. While imagery is central to my art making, medium also has a significant role on my work. The ability to do a transfer with acrylic gloss medium allows me to create images on different surfaces (paper, wood, metal, plastic, and found objects). In addition, the ability to layer digital images with lithography and monotype allows me to achieve dynamic results. In the future, I want to expand beyond the slaughterhouse and move into all aspects of animal cruelty: bull fighting, animal testing, fur trapping, the general disrespect of innocent creatures. I would hope that my images convey a narrative like a fable; the image contains a lesson, a warning, a conflict or a universal truth. This could happen with prints, or expand into other media such as sculpture, installation, and drawings. |
New Territories/Daybreak
Monotype 20" x 20" |
Deborah Weiss
Exploring and bringing attention to the natural world is timely and timeless. As a painter and printmaker I have chosen to investigate the physical and emotional nuances of our environment. My intent is to offer the viewer recognizable imagery, however my techniques intentionally render the location nonspecific.
Inspiration/information is continually gleaned from sources as diverse as a panoramic rock- bound vista to the minuscule hatched markings on a tiny mollusk in a salt marsh. Surface markings record this process. Subject matter is not predetermined, it is intuitive and emerges as the process progresses. The work is created from memory of observation, emotion and awareness. |
Low Tide
Solarplate, 8" x 10" |
Annie Wildey
These intimate etchings are love letters to the coastal landscape that recall a memory, or evoke a quiet moment in nature, as the weather change or the sun goes down. Offering an opportunity to pause and contemplate the serenity and beauty of the shoreline.
I work directly on the unprocessed plate using a variety of tools to create spontaneous and accidental marks that read at the landscape. |