2016–2019 exhibitions
2019
Under Pressure
Lindsay Dirkx Brown Art Gallery, San Ramon
October 1 – 25, 2019
Under Pressure refers to the nature of printmaking processes, which use pressure applied with a press or by hand to transfer an image onto paper or another support. The title also refers to deeper themes examined by the artists. Subjects range from the impending pressure of climate change to societal pressures, such as the pressure to have children “before it’s too late” portrayed in Sharon Augusta Mitchell’s mezzotint The Biological Clock.New CSP member Kamil Zaleski’s work examines the pressures of images which increasingly try to define us in this “era of ubiquitous digitization”. Other work references forces such as barometric pressure, the pressure of the deep sea, as well as gravity. Katherine Venturelli’s Quantum Leap visually represents the increased kinetic energy that results from pressure applied to molecules. Other artists discuss emotional pressures inherent in the art-making process. Hélène Paulette Côté refers to pressure as “a way of life”, stating “I found I do my best work under the pressure of a deadline”. Susan Silvester observes that “due to a variety of factors the print you get doesn’t always work. Pressure is in the knowledge that this process is a gamble that can’t be depended on. However, it is rewarding when it does!”
Participating artists include Shunsuke Ando, Margo Bors, Donna Brown, Jen Cole, Cathie Crawford, Hélène Paulette Côté, Barbara Foster, Linda Fribley, Yuji Hiratsuka, Mehrdad Khataei, Joanna Kidd, Dixie Laws, Barbara Milman, Sharon Augusta Mitchell, Lynn Newcomb, Michael O’Shea, Arline Reimann, Aslı Sağlam, Susan Silvester, Maryly Snow, Karen Towne, Frances Valesco, Summer Ventis, Katherine Venturelli, Linda Yoshizawa, Kamil Zaleski.
Perception of Place
Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, California
September 6 – October 24, 2019
Juror: Marianne McGrath
The California Society of Printmakers and MPC Printmakers present Perception of Place, a juried exhibition of works selected from members of both organizations. The exhibition explores place in its diverse meaning through the medium of printmaking. In investigating place, artists considered tangible subject matter such as geography, physical location, or a specific setting. Works focused on places within our home, workplace or community. Artists similarly explored the conceptual aspects of place, examining emotions, psychological issues, circumstances or feelings. The idea of place prompted some artists to look at identity and status associated with our perception of place within society.
Right Image: Sheila Moreno (TANA), Buscando Nuestras Hermanxs (detail), intaglio
Traditional Techniques: Contemporary Prints
YoloArts Barn Gallery
May 16 – August 15, 2019
Traditional Techniques: Contemporary Prints reveals the magical process of hand pulled printmaking using traditional techniques such as woodcut, etching, engraving, mezzotint, lithography and screenprinting. This exhibit will highlight a cross-section of work by members of the California Society of Printmakers and Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer (TANA) who are using these methods to explore contemporary themes and styles. Join us at the opening reception on May 16th for printmaking demos by TANA and artist talks by CSP members, including Summer Ventis and Kent Manske.
The Barn Gallery is Yolo County’s newest exhibition space located on the beautiful 2.5 acre Gibson House property. The Barn Gallery is committed to supporting the continual growth and development of the arts by offering 1,400 square feet for installations and performances featuring a diverse selection of artistic mediums by emerging and established artists. The Barn Gallery is managed by YoloArts. Established in 1981 YoloArts is the state local partner of the California Arts Council and the central arts organization serving the county of Yolo. YoloArts provide the community with resources and access to the creation, exhibition and preservation of the diverse arts and culture of the region.
Between the Lines
Martin Wong Gallery, San Francisco State University
April 27, 2019
Juror: Lothar Osterburg
Between the Lines is on view at San Francisco State University’s Martin Wong Gallery from April 23 – April 27, 2019, in conjunction with the California Society of Printmakers’ Annual Meeting on April 27th. The juror for the exhibition is this year’s keynote speaker, master printer Lothar Osterburg. Osterburg states that in addition to a good (or unusual) use of technique, the work in Between the Lines features content that arouses the viewer’s curiosity.
Artists include: Shunsuke Ando, Peter Baczek, Jonathan Barcan, Susan Belau, Jen Cole, Cathie Crawford, Jessica Dunne, Rebecca Foster, Lola Fraknoi, Barbara Furbush, Yuji Hiratsuka, Gail Jacobs, Kathryn Kain, Joanna Kidd, Pam Landram, Dixie Laws, Geneviève L’Heureux, Golbanou Moghaddas, Margaret Niven, Carrie Ann Plank, Ashley Rodriguez Reed, Anita Seltzer, Robynn Smith, Maryly Snow, Herlinde Spahr, Jami Taback, Monica Wiesblott.
Regional Collective
Janet Turner Print Museum California State University, Chico
March 11 – April 13, 2019
Juror: Leslie Jones, Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Exhibition Catalog
Regional Collective” is a juried exhibition featuring one of the national historic printmakers collectives that is still a vital force in contemporary printmaking. Printmaking has long been associated with community whether it be a university setting, a local collective, or in this case, regional support. The sharing and appreciation of this graphic form through associations fosters ongoing support for the market, interest, development and appreciation of its historic nature to communicate visually by its broad based multiple original nature. Turner herself received support for her continuing career by membership in these regional organizations she joined and they presently continue to foster new generations of printmakers.
The exhibition includes work by Nora Akino, Jonathan Barcan, Helen Bellaver, Susan Belau, Rozanne Hermelyn Di Silvestro, Holly Downing, Kim Fink, Karen Gallagher-Iverson, Alisa Golden, Nif Hodgson, Sandra Kelch, Dixie Laws, Leslie Lowinger, Kent Manske, Mary V. Marsh, Elizabeth Rose, Deborah Sibony, Linda Simmel, Herlinde Spahr, Katherine Venturelli, Monique Wales, Sandy AE Walker, Donna Westerman, Sarah Whorf, and Monica Wiesblott.
Print It!
Village Theatre Art Gallery, Danville, California
March 16 – April 20, 2019
Participating Artists: Shunsuke Ando, Peter Baczek, Sandra Beard, Noah Breuer, Amy Burek, Hélène Paulette Côté, Cathie Crawford, Linda Lee Fribley, Betty Friedman, Karen Gallagher Iverson, Deena Haynes, Joanna Kidd, Danguole Rita Kuolas,Jill Landau, Dixie Laws, Kent Manske, Barbara Maricle, Cynthia Milionis, Mooij, Barbara Nilsson, Jill Landau, Arline Reimann, Ashley Rodriguez Reed, Aslı Sağlam, Anita Seltzer, Maryly Snow, Toru Sugita, Jami Taback, Karen Towne, Summer Ventis, Katherine Venturelli, Nanette Wylde, and Linda Yoshizawa.
2018
105th Annual Members Exhibition
Piedmont Center for the Arts
September 14 – October 7, 2018
ClimART
Academy of Art University Cannery Galleries
September 8 – 23, 2018
Juror: Gail Wight
Inspired by the 2018 Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, the California Society of Printmakers has organized a national exhibition of artwork addressing the compelling issue of climate change. The California Society of Printmakers promotes the use of traditional and innovative printmaking techniques to create profound and meaningful works of art.
Artists throughout the United States were invited to respond to the theme of climate change. From these national entries, juror Gail Wight, Associate Professor at Stanford University, selected artwork by 47 artists for inclusion in this special exhibition. Wight’s own work deals with the interplay between art and biology, theories of evolution, cognition and the animal state-of-being. She states that “The theme of climate change is close to my heart, and made for a particularly fascinating group of submissions. I was amazed and impressed with the extraordinary range of responses, so inspired in both technique and in approach to our environmental debacles. From clarion warnings to optimistic solutions, and from deep reflection to poetic reverence, I was heartened by the sincere and expressly creative response to this call for work. In these particularly dire times, these wonderful works of art offer hope, awareness, and action.”
Participating Artists include Begitte Lynge Andersen, Shunsuke Ando, Marissa Angel, Tim Armstrong, Cynthia Back, Justin Barfield, Sandra Beard, Sherry Smith Bell, Karen Brussat Butler, Belinda Chlouber, Hélène Paulette Côté, Cathie Crawford, Christopher M. Dewees, Holly Downing, Tallmadge Doyle, Beth Fein, Barbara Foster, Jenny Freestone, Joan Karissa Gallego, Rosemarie C. Gebhart, Rozanne Hermelyn Di Silvestro, Joanna Kidd, Evelyn Klein, Geneviève L’Heureux, Colin Lyons, Kent Manske, Margaret Michel, Bruce Muirhead, Ariana S. Niehaus, Barbara Nilsson, Margaret Niven, Roberta Restaino, Julia Edith Rigby, Luz Marina Ruiz, Elizabeth J. Saccà, Masha Schweitzer, Katherine Sheehan, Donald E. Smith, Robynn Smith, Lilla Edit Szekely, Jami Taback, Karen Baden Thapa, Ann Truax, Tjelda Vander Meijden, Sandy AE Walker, Sylvia Solochek Walters, and Melissa West.
The Traces Left Behind
Kings Art Center
August 4 – September 1, 2018
A print is made by transferring an image from one surface, such as a metal plate or carved wooden block, onto paper or another support. Thus the final work of art that the viewer enjoys consists of “the traces left behind” from the surface that the artist originally worked. The exhibition explores the rich and varied nature of printmaking techniques and traditions. Work ranges from two dimensional surfaces to three dimensional artist books and from very traditional techniques like woodcut, mezzotint, and stone lithography that have been used by artists for hundreds of years to newer and more experimental techniques such as photopolymer intaglio, pochoir monoprint, encaustic and clay monotype.
Participating artists include: Shunsuke Ando, Peter Baczek, Sandra Beard, Robert Brokl, Zach Clark, Mandie Cline, Hélène Paulette Côté, Cathie Crawford, Starr Davis, Jessica Dunne, Karen Gallagher Iverson, Maj-Britt Hilstrom, Yuji Hiratsuka, Sandra Kelch, Joanna Kidd, Dixie Laws, Robin McCloskey, Cynthia Milionis, Sharon Mitchell, Hj Mooij, Barbara Nilsson, Aslı Sağlam, Maryly Snow, Herlinde Spahr, Ginger Crawford Tolonen, Susan Trubow, Katherine Venturelli, Monique Wales, Sandy Walker, Monica Wiesblott, and Linda Zupcic.
Points of Departure
Bridge Storage and ARTSpace, Richmond, California
May 7 – 25, 2018
Participating Artists: Nora Akino, Shunsuke Ando, Peter Baczek, Sandra Beard, Priscilla Birge, Jenn Cole, Jan Cook, Hélène Paulette Côté, Cathie Crawford, Joan Finton, Rich Fowler, Sherana Harriette Frances, Karen Benioff Friedman, J. Ruth Gendler, Alisa Golden, Dana Harris Seeger, Maj-Britt Hilstrom, Susan Leone Howe, Debra Jewell, Joanna Kidd, Danguole Rita Kuolas, Geneviève L’Heureux, Sara Lankutis, Dixie Laws, Kent Manske, HJ Mooij, Barbara Nilsson, Pat Prosek, Ashley Rodriguez Reed, Aslı Sağlam, Denese Sanders, Dana Harris Seeger, Maryly Snow, Herlinde Spahr, Laurie Szujewska, Jami Taback, Susan Tibbon, Sylvia Solochek Walters, Yishu Wang, Monica Wiesblott, Helen Wu, Nanette Wylde.
Thinking Outside the Frame
New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU)
May 18 – September 30, 2018
Juror: Cathy Kimball, Executive Director and Chief Curator, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art.
Virtual Exhibition
New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU) and the California Society of Printmakers are pleased to present Thinking Outside the Frame, a juried exhibition featuring prints that push the boundaries of printmaking, including large-scale prints, installation and book arts. Participating artists include Beth Fein, Betty Friedman, Karen Gallagher-Iverson, Ewa Gavrielov, Ellie Honl, Kent Manske, Michelle Murillo, Carrie Ann Plank, Ashley Rodriguez Reed, Luz Marina Ruiz, Robynn Smith, Ginger Tolonen, Katherine Venturelli, and Donna Westerman.
“Printmaking has often been characterized by its unconventional use of traditional techniques. Thinking Outside the Frame’reflects that spirit of innovation in awe-inspiring works that include woven paper, artists’ books, large scale, multi-panel prints and even video. The 14 artists in this exhibition explore the various permutations of printmaking methods and installation approaches, successfully bending the dynamics of this age-old art form.” Cathy Kimball
2017
ca.inked: A Survey of Work from the California Society of Printmakers + Friends
Jen Tough Gallery
December 8 – January 7, 2018
Curator: Thomas Wojak, Associate Professor, California College of the Arts
Participating Artists: Jonathan Barcan, Jesus Barraza, Barbara Foster, Mark Johnsen, Sandra Kelch, Robin McCloskey, Michelle Murillo, Carrie Ann Plank, Luz Marina Ruiz, Robynn Smith, Jack Stone, Toru Sugita, Colleen Sullivan, Thomas Wojak.
2017 Artist in Residence
Mullowney Printing
October 8, 2017
The California Society of Printmakers’ 2017 Artist in Residence exhibition presents work created by selected CSP members in collaboration with Bay Area master printers.
This year’s CSP Artists in Residence are Susan Belau at Gruenwald Press with John Gruenwald; Colleen Sullivan at The W.O.R.K.S with Thomas Wojak; and Kim Vanderheiden at Mullowney Printing with Paul Mullowney.
104th Annual Members Exhibition
Piedmont Center for the Arts
September 4 – October 1, 2017
Participating Artists: Megan Adie, Nora Akino, Shunsuke Ando, Peter Baczek, Sandra Beard, Bonnie Randall Boller, Margo Bors, Robert Brokl, Martha Castillo, Kathryn Cirincione, Zach Clark, Jen Cole, Hélène Paulette Côté, Cathie Crawford, Alice Cronin, Shari Arai DeBoer, Holly Downing, Beth Fein, Kim W. Fink, Jack Stone, Barbara Foster, Lola Fraknoi, Linda L. Fribley, Karen Gallagher Iverson, Ewa Gavrielov, Thomas Goglio, Jane Gregorius, Rozanne Hermelyn Di Silvestro, Yuji Hiratsuka, Susan Leone Howe, Debra Jewell, Joanna Kidd, Pam Landram, Sara Lankutis, Dixie Laws, Sydell Lewis, Geneviève L’Heureux, Mary V. Marsh, Stephanie Martin, Barbara Milman, Golbanou Moghaddas, Adrienne Momi, Carol Montgomery, Hj Mooij, Gustavo Mora, Beej Nierengarten-Smith, Barbara Nilsson, Margaret Niven, Russell Pachman, Carrie Ann Plank, Millie Whipplesmith Plank, Laurel Prieto, Bob Rocco, Patricia M. Rodriguez, Luz Marina Ruiz, Denese Sanders, Georgia Sears, Marsha Shaw, Susan Silvester, Robert Simons, Maryly Snow, Herlinde Spahr, Toru Sugita, Colleen Sullivan, Laurie Szujewska, Susan Trubow, Frances Valesco, Kim Vanderheiden, Katherine Venturelli, Monique Wales, Sylvia Solochek Walters, Katherine Warinner, Melissa West, Donna Westerman, Monica Wiesblott, Nanette Wylde.
Graphically Observed
Isabelle Percy West Gallery, California College of the Arts
Juror: Liz Chalfin, Founding Director of Zea Mays PrintmakingMay 18 – June 1, 2017
Participating Artists: Peter Baczek, Liz Chalfin, Jen Cole, Jan Cook, Cathie Crawford, Jessica Dunne, Betty Friedman, Barbara Furbush, Jack Jacobson, Joanna Kidd, Bryan Kring, Geneviève L’Heureux, John McCaskill, Gustavo Mora, Patricia Theobald Payne, Carrie Ann Plank, Arline Reimann, Julia Edith Rigby, Bob Rocco,Masha Schweitzer, Robert Simons, Maryly Snow, Sylvia Solochek Walters, Toru Sugita, Laurie Szujewska, Susan Trubow, Linda Yoshizawa.
“Art is a gift that allows us to experience the visible world through the unique lens of the individual artist. It takes us out of our own habitual framework of seeing, naming and understanding and gives us an opportunity to re-see, re-name and create new understandings. The twenty-seven prints in this exhibition do just that. With discerning eyes, engaged hearts and adept hands, they present both the seen and felt world in new, engaging ways. The digital images were a tease– calling out to me to see the real deal: the ink on the paper, the scale, and the beauty of the mark. In each print chosen, I recognized a mastery of the craft of printmaking in service to the art of creating a new worldview.” Liz Chalfin
2016 – 2017 Artist in Residence
Mullowney Printing
March 5, 2017
The California Society of Printmakers presents a series of short residency opportunities for current CSP members. Each residency has a stipend to facilitate a print-based project focused in the area of specialty of the Master Printmaker. At the end of the residency cycle there is an exhibition celebrating the new works.
Featuring: Deb Sibony, The W.O.R.K.S., Master Printer Thomas Wojak; Peter Baczek, Gruenwald Press, Master Printer John Gruenwald; Michelle Murillo, Mullowney Printing, Master Printer Paul Mullowney.
Mirrored Images
Pacific Grove Art Center
January 6 – February 23, 2017
Participating artists: Adrienne Momi, Arline Reimann, AV Pike, Angélica Carrasco Acevedo, Barbara Nilsson, Bob Rocco, Carol Montgomery, Colleen Sullivan, Cindy Davis, Cynthia Milionis, Dana Harris, Hj Mooij, Dixie Laws, Evelyn Klein, Beth Fein, Frances Valesco, Gustavo Mora, Ginger Crawford, Hélène Paulette Côté, Herlinde Spahr, Joanna Kidd, John Babcock, Katherine Venturelli, Laurel Prieto, Luz Marina Ruiz, Maryly Snow, Noriko Constant, Pamela Takigawa, Robynn Smith, Shari Arai DeBoer, Shunsuke Ando, Stephanie Martin, and Susan Howe.
Beneath the Surface
Davis Art Center Tsao Gallery
January 6 – 27, 2017
Beneath the Surface features artwork by members of the California Society of Printmakers, an international organization that promotes the practice and appreciation of contemporary printmaking. The printmakers use traditional and innovative printmaking techniques to express their individual interpretations of the theme. Some artists look, literally, beneath the surface of land and water. Others explore beneath layers of time and hidden meaning or visually peel back layers of marks, texture, and color.
Participating artists: Shunsuke Ando, Sandra Beard, Sherry Smith Bell, Angélica Carrasco Acevedo, Jen Cole, Hélène Paulette Côté, Alice Cronin, Shari Arai DeBoer, Beth Fein, Dana Harris, Debra Jewell, Joanna Kidd, Dixie Laws, Barbara Milman, hj mooij, Gustavo Mora, Barbara Nilsson, Carrie Ann Plank, Laurel Prieto, Luz Marina Ruiz, Susan Silvester, Maryly Snow, Herlinde Spahr, Colleen Sullivan, Ginger Crawford Tolonen, Frances Valesco, Katherine Venturelli, Pete Villaseñor, and Linda Yoshizawa.
Debra Jewell and Hélène Paulette Côté’s prints look beneath the soil. Jewell’s images of trees reference rootedness, decay, and what remains. Côté’s prints depict the pottery of the long vanished Anasazi. After their disappearance the pottery returned to the soil, only to be unearthed again centuries later.
Other artists look beneath the surface of the mind. Joanna Kidd’s “What Are You Thinking” ponders the subtext behind what is said out loud and the thoughts that lie beneath silence. Carrie Ann Plank’s installation uses digital fabrication and traditional printmaking techniques to examine the way that context shifts meaning. Herlinde Spahr’s series “Lying Awake” also examines the territory of the imagination, when thought is submerged and rendered helpless. Surrounded by darkness, the outside world peels away and vision originates from within. Dixie Laws’ “American River 2” appears to be a peaceful scene of trees, sunset, and water along the American River, but under the surface there are feelings of loss and grief.
The works of Sandra Beard, Maryly Snow, and Barbara Milman highlight environmental concerns. Beard’s “Arctic Chorus” series are abstract, process-driven prints that reflect the beauty and awe-inspiring colors and crashing of the ice, as well as the change that is their undeniable cause. Maryly Snow’s “Transient” depicts weather maps of the far north flanking a vast ice field and glacier, dwarfing two dog sled teams in an otherwise ominously empty terrain. Milman’s work examines the effect of climate change on life below the ocean surface. Many marine creatures will suffer from ocean warming and acidification but others, like jellyfish, will prosper in warmer seas.
Frances Valesco looks beneath the surface of the water. The textural marks of “Arenys de Mar #3” were inspired by the ever-changing surface of the sea, which influences what is below and vice versa. Other artists examine the surface of the water as a metaphor for an inner journey. Sherry Smith Bell‘s “Voyage” depicts her journey to new and uncharted waters. Shari Arai DeBoer’s monotype “Navigating I”, inspired by old maps and cartography, explores the idea that as we navigate our lives through the physical world within ourselves there is an abundance of wonder and growth waiting to be discovered and embraced. Ginger Crawford Tolonen‘s “interpret the heavens” [sic] is about that search of the heavens and its plethora of stories from spiritual to astrological. Pete Villaseñor’s “Shaman’s Journey,” inspired by Aztec and Mayan imagery, honors the spiritual underlying forces that accompany our existence.
Shunsuke Ando uses traditional etching techniques to create black and white images that represent his inner spiritual world. In “The Pilgrim III” patches of starry night sky bleed through the landscape, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. Luz Marina Ruiz’s prints are also inspired by the world of dreams and nature. She works from memory, using organic forms and shapes that speak of the essence of the landscape rather than depicting a particular time and place. Intrigued by the experimental nature of printmaking, she gouges, scratches, collages and layers pigment to achieve highly textured surfaces.
Other prints allow the viewer to look beneath the surface of the printmaking process. Katherine Venturelli and Colleen Sullivan’s prints reveal different stages of the artists’ process. Venturelli repurposed proofs from her series “Universe at Play” to create a new work. Each proof shows new changes as Venturelli continued to develop the plate. Her work is a composite of these proofs, revealing different stages of her process as she worked towards created the completed series. Sullivan’s monotype diptych “Two Stories in Tandem” began as several simple drawings, which have been multiplied, reduced, enlarged and combined many times over so that the original drawings are barely recognizable. In the final work, there is a fascinating echoing and repetition of the lines which are ultimately copies of themselves.
Barbara Nilsson sees the world as layers. In “Bees Dance” she uses a back-light and the technique of encaustic monotype to reveal images from various levels of the work. Laurel Prieto uses layers of images and textures to explore her interest in natural cycles of growth and disintegration, and their relationship to the construction of identity.
The prints of Dana Harris, hj mooij, and Linda Yoshizawa use layers to look beneath the surface of time and memory. In “Carousel Study”, Harris uses layers to obscure and to reveal in order to evoke the fragmented nature of memory. She explores her shared history as a twin, delving below the surface of common memories to investigate what and why certain memories remain for each of them. Yoshizawa’s collagraph “Ancestral Mountains” deals with uncovering stories. Every mark on the plate is revealed, showing the history that went into preparing it. Yoshizawa contemplates our connections to our past and to our descendants and honors her heritage with a nod to ancient landscapes.
2016
Dreams and the Imagination
Merced College Art Gallery
September 26 – October 20, 2016
Featuring artwork by: Nora Akino, Shunsuke Ando, Sandra Beard, Martha Castillo, James Claussen, Cindy Davis, Sherana Harriette Frances, Thomas Goglio, Yuji Hiratsuka, Debra Jewell, Joanna Kidd, Cynthia Milionis, Carol Montgomery, Michelle Murillo, Margaret Niven, Laurel Prieto, Luz Marina Ruiz, Masha Schweitzer, Maryly Snow, Herlinde Spahr, Jami Taback, Ginger Crawford Tolonen, Frances Valesco, Kim Vanderheiden, Pete Villaseñor, Lila Wahrhaftig, Monique Wales, Monica Wiesblott.
Many artists use their technical skill to create imagery that examines their own dreams and translates those images and ideas directly onto the page. Masha Schweitzer’s photopolymer etching Flight, in which people are flying and birds are earthbound,was inspired by dreams of flying. While looking at a photograph of acrobats taking their bows, Schweitzer was struck by the idea that their body positions gave the appearance that they could take off any moment. Ginger Tolonen’s monotype Descending XIII is also inspired by dreams of flying and diving deep into the water.
Sherana Harriette Frances often uses imagery from her dreams and has found that they serve as a vehicle for concerns and sorrows that have found no other voice. Frances’ hand colored lithograph Threads of a Dream examines how the language of dreams is enigmatic, locked in an obscure vocabulary behind fences through which we reach for threads of meaning. Nora Akino’s work examines how the objects in our dreams may take on the shape of the qualities associated with them. Her feeling that trees are benevolent, protective figures creates an image of trees sprouting angel wings. Herlinde Spahr’s image of a feather held in place with roots captures the tension, at the height of the imagination, between the desire of the mind to soar unfettered, and the need to remain grounded.
Other artists address the concept of dreams as aspirations and goals. Monica Wiesblott’s untitled linocut plays with the idea that the “grass is always greener”. The expressions of two winning beauty queens show that dreams of greatness are not always as they seem. Fixed Boundary by Jami Taback addresses dreams about the issues of borders, searching for a way to open the world up, to take down walls. Kim Vanderheiden’s work also uses the metaphors of walls and windows, fences and freeways, bridges and language, to focus on the concepts of isolation and connection. Vanderheiden asks, “Are we prompted to address our personal tensions with isolation and connection in ways that are profoundly different than in the past?” Maryly Snow’s Tangled Climate Measurement Time is a dream of the jumbled oppositional forces of rational measurement and impulsive randomness impacting climate change. Michelle Murillo’s glass screen print DNA Map: In the Letters and Numbers, Europe is an attempt to reconcile her identity with information revealed through DNA testing. This previously unknown information has allowed her to dream about who her ancestors were in the process of reforming her identity.
Other works in the exhibition are inspired by nature and landscape. Soberanes 1 by Debra Jewell addresses the sense of place found between memory, dream and imagination. Drawn from the Soberanes Canyon along the Big Sur Coast, a forest moves between darkness and light. The transitional space between foreground and background, sunlight and shadow, recalls a dream while it shifts the focus towards imagination. Other works, like Dream Ore by Margaret Niven, Garden of Dreams by Luz Marina Ruiz and The Trickster—Yosemite by Monique Wales are inspired by natural forces and the natural environment. Niven’s work uses the mining metaphor of a silver planetary image as the parent rock from which our treasured dreams are refined. Ruiz’s work has shifted from observational landscape studies to interior landscapes. Working from memory she uses organic shapes and forms that speak of the natural environment. Monique Wales creates a portrait of The Trickster. Native American culture is rich with the stories of Coyote, the Trickster, who uses creativity and imagination to bring wisdom to the community.
Pete Villaseñor, Martha Castillo and Laurel Prieto address the role of the imagination in myths and storytelling. Villaseñor’s work imagines Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. As depicted in the print, Quetzalcoastl serves as the intermediary between the cosmos and our universe. Martha Castillo’s clay monotype Short Stories #1 is the first in a series of prints about storytelling. Each rectangle represents a book, or a page from a book, a separate story. Colorful and complex patterns of each rectangle illuminate the myths, fables, and dreams we tell. In the telling we learn to interpret our lives. Laurel Prieto’s collages translate indescribable sensations into tangible, malleable material. Resulting collages are a reincarnation through remembrance and imagination, emphasizing a non-linear understanding of time and storytelling.
For Cynthia Milionis the very process of printmaking is “an imagining taking shape”, meaning that her images come into being through the printmaking process. Initial inspiration is derived from imagery in her environment. How images interact with each other, the ink, the press, and the atmosphere, drive the final realization. Every work is an experiment; an imagining taking shape.
103rd Annual Exhibition
Piedmont Center for the Arts
September 3 – October 2, 2016
Pop Up Exhibition
Isabelle Percy West Gallery, California College of the Arts
May 15 & 16, 2016
Juror: Karen Kunc
Selected Artists: Arturo Araujo, Av Pike, Carrie Ann Plank, Cynthia Milionis, Dana Harris, Deborah Sibony, Elisabeth Nicula, Geneviève L’Heureux, Holly Downing, Jane Gregorius, Jen Cole, John McCaskill, Laurel Prieto, Luz Marina Ruiz, Macy Chadwick, Mary V. Marsh, Melinda Whipplesmith Plank, Michelle Wilson, Patricia Theobald Payne, Rebecca Foster, Robert Brokl, Shari DeBoer, Stephanie Martin, Sylvia Solochek Walters, Toru Sugita, Monique Wales.
