Caladan Gallery

MICHAEL HOOPER

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:02:18 -0500

Michael focuses an enormous amount of energy when he does beading. His use of color and texture transforms the craft into an art form.

Ever purposeful in his work, he finds no shortage of inspiration in the many textural pieces of beads and objects present in the Art room at CommonArt. Upon watching him work, one gets a sense of the determination that guides his work as well as his life.

PAUL DiLASCIA, WATERTOWN, MA Gallery Member

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:41:33 -0500

Paul DiLascia calls upon an emergence of peculiarity and reveals it as a stew of actuality. It is true that it is also still a stewing pot of potentiality as well, as we move closer and closer into a pinpoint from which there is no escape. Chaos generates chaos. The artist has successfully and mindfully created a modern hieroglyphic, has utilized an age-old pictoral language in which to express it.

CHRIS KNIGHT, Chicago, IL Solo Exhibition Award

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:42:15 -0500

These apocolyptic visions from Chris Knight put one in mind of the old saying "be careful what you wish for...it may come true". It is our desires that are sometimes available to fuel the fire masquerading as products that are good for us, enjoyable and necessary! However, the mass production of culture can result in an awful lot of waste. This waste materializes, yes it does! The waste must be burned, thrown away, etc. and voila! Overburdened landfill. A mess in the air and on the land. Sick bodies and sick minds. Be careful what you wish for! Try to wish for something non-toxic!

DALE CLIFFORD, Savannah, GA Returning Artist

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:38:16 -0500

The symbolism in these works by Dale Clifford leads us to the binding of ourselves quite literally when it comes to the dissolving of man-made boundaries between individuals or countries. We can fit ourselves into neat little packages of self-destruction, afraid to make changes even if it is to our detriment not to. It is easy to rely upon a "fight or flight" urge. This is a pattern to release, and in doing so, we free ourselves from patterns of endless destruction.

MARY DALON

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:30:46 -0500

Mary Dalon, an artist who grew up in Quincy, MA, has painted for nearly 60 years. She remembers her beginnings fondly, having been chosen to attend art programs at Massachusetts College of Art as a young student.

Mary�s inspiration comes from nature, the ocean, and she is fascinated by the many different color combinations that floral arrangements offer. She has lived near the ocean for her entire life, and often paints scenes from memory. She does, however, prefer reference material when considering compositions and subject matter. Mary�s artwork flows without the trappings of over-criticism from the artist! She takes great joy in color and texture and is always willing to try a new method to achieve this. She sees color in everything, and has a rare and pure vision.

Mary has exhibited her work through the CommonArt program in Newton, MA, Beacon Hill in Boston, and in Portsmouth, NH.

FRITZ SUTER, Van Nuys, CA

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:23:23 -0500

"Fritz's imagination is endless and gives him much inspiration for his work. Born in 1939 in Vienna, Austria, he studed art with Professor Rothstein at the Art Academy in Vienna from 1958 to 1959...His mother being Austrian and his father Swiss gave him the opportunity to live in both countries...For 30 years he owned interior design companies in Switzerland and Austria, allowing him to create art while running his design business. His work has expanded to more than 700 pieces. His life has influenced his use of strong colors and spontaneous impressions. He loves Cubism, Classic Modernism and Whimsical art."
-Fritz Suter

*Director's Note: The experiences gleaned along the way are evident in the aesthetic of this artist! He has a straightforward way of communicating.

ANN FINNEY, Chicago, IL

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:27:52 -0500

"...I use my graphic arts skills to design artwork digitally using my computer. My art is conceived and developed right at the computer (not scanned). I see a color or a shape somewhere and a design concept is born. Most of my work is abstract in nature, but I do some in figure and form. I am constantly evolving and exploring other art forms such as fiber art.

I believe digitally created computer art will become part of the mainstream for designing visual art just like the computer has taken the place of pen and pencil for writing letters.

I would characterize my designs as very contemporary, some pieces make statements to start you thinking, but all are very whimsical with deep rich vibrant colors. They also reflect situations in the world around us. My Human Cage piece reflects how animals may see us. It�s a reversal of the birdcage, which we use to cage birds for our viewing pleasure.
-Ann Finney

ALEXANDRA COPLEY, Columbus, OH

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:26:45 -0500

Seen Becoming Seen: Mexican Transculturalism and Transnationalism

The American social Landscape reflects a powerful convergence of physical phenomena and cultural meaning. I have become an observer of cultural change that becomes imprinted on the land through transnational migration. It is reflected in the daily lives of migratory immigrants from Mexico in our country and in their own.

Seen becoming seen incorporates photographic imagery to represent movement, exchange and migration. These images hope to reveal the invisible cultural impacts of migrant workers in our society making them visible entities. It is a documentation of those who are changing the scope of American life influenced by the ideas of transculturalism and transnationalism that exist in the American and Mexican landscape.
-Alexandra Copley

BOB TOMOLILLO, Lynn, MA

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:26:44 -0500

"I have been so outraged by the present policies of this great country that it has spilled over into other areas of concern. This, after all is called �inspiration�. It is why art critics have long looked to the emerging nations in turmoil for �art that speaks to the issues of our time�. Gridlock, misguided policies and worst of all the spiral of complacency has plagued this country for a decade or more. This �state of being� is created by powerful external forces, a �dulling down� if you will of �passions�. The �spectator artist� who views the world from the sidelines is a real and debilitating force, as manifest by the repetition and sameness of imagery that is often seen in galleries everywhere. Image sameness or shear lack of inventiveness is thus compounded by a market that neither cares about the message or contextual import, but rather moves about the existing commercial venues to exploit the bottom line. �No peace without justice� the slogan for our time. The artist who makes prints has chosen this selfless medium for its immediacy and directness often producing truly righteous imagery. It is a commitment that one should not take lightly. Artists such as Goya or Kath� Kollowitz loom large because of their compassion and not because of their breadth of sales. Tap into the passion of printmaking and you will find the change occurring from within."
-Bob Tomolillo

NIKI FARRELL, Peabody, MA

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:26:22 -0500

"My art seeks to penetrate the inner psyche of the human condition. It is difficult to see our world through rose colored glasses. The dark mist of folly and evil can at moments blind us from a world of beauty. We as artists must try to bring light and truth to the world. From Albert Einstein: "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing".
-Niki Farrell

JOHN R. MATH, Jupiter, FL

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:40:31 -0500

"While photographing common things with movement of the camera, I create Abstracts and Impressions. Some objects become smooth and distorted, while other subjects become hard, edgy and not of this World. In either case, they come alive with movement and color. The photographs are unusual and take on a painted like quality, without being altered in post production.

I photograph everyday places and things in a different manner than most photographers. I photograph these places and things from an alternate "point of view" and I am inspired and in awe of what is created.

These photographs have not been manipulated with any type of digital software or by any digital filter system or technique. These photographs represent a new way of looking at something in a different manner than we usually do."
-John R. Math

LAUREN SAMMON, Cleveland Heights, OH

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:05:14 -0500

"The goal of my work is to engage the participant in a way that the experience transpires beyond the time they are physically with the work. Successful art lingers in the mind of the viewer evolving from as a series of questions into a heightened awareness of self and society. It is important that my art ask questions of the viewer rather than give answers. I see this as the delicate detail that allows art to stand alone in a field of social influences and control mechanisms. Most of these structures [propaganda, religion, government] elicit control over people by telling them what to do and what not to do, resulting in blind servitude. Art is my means to counteract this process. Incubating creativity and opportunity, I hope to inspire the actions necessary for society's survival as well as exposing that which threatens to destroy it."
-Lauren Sammon

PAUL MARQUARDT, Kalamazoo, MI

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:41:33 -0500

"I enjoy working in a variety of traditional and new media. Electronic media tools have been used extensively in the production of my artwork. Some are digitally created works, others were created using electronic media to prepare elements, and in many electronic media plays a major role in the finished work itself, as in the responsive installations and performances. However, the content of the artworks is of most importance. Technology is used in their creation but they are not about technology. My artwork is a consideration of what we are as a species of life on this planet, the relationship of our actions to our goals, and the interaction of people as we live together."
-Paul Marquardt

TIM CLOUD

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:48:57 -0500

Coming to the CommonArt program with a background in carpentry and carnival work, Tim Cloud has constructed a very precise and delicate box from craft sticks. The box is painstakingly lined with decorative paper, which compliments the texture and color of the wooden box. His hand is fine, approaching the materials lovingly and with great understanding of the nature of the geometrical construction of the object.

Tim has further aspirations which will take him further into the realm of construction, intending to add motion in the form of a battery operated ferris wheel.

This artists� sensitivity to the materials he works with, along with great skill as a craftsperson will take him far in his future endeavors.

CHRISTOPHER W. WEEKS, Tampa, FL

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:53:04 -0500

"My work has evolved from a long desire to tell stories. These stories become reflections of my perceptions, transforming the world around me into a series of bright visual hieroglyphs. Acting as both social commentary and contemporary fable, the result is more often than not, a series of sardonic observations of the world I see, dealing predominately with social rites of passage and the conflicts and challenges of surviving in today's world. Filtered through the twin lenses of imagination and memory, these issues become symbolic of the event which forge us all both as individuals as well as a society. Like much art, my work seeks to act as a barometer of the cultural/social concerns, issues, mores, values, priorities and struggles which I see as pertinent to the society around me...

The relationship between art and its social surroundings is an important symbiosis, because art is not created in a vacuum; it is both a result and a reflection of the culture which creates it, influenced as much by historical and political events aas artistic creativity and experimentation. It is a barometer of cultural values, mores, priorities and struggles. It provides both social insight as well as cathartic release. Would Dadaism have been what it was without World War I and the onset of cultural "Modernity"? Or think about the interconnection between Pop Art and the cultural/social shifts of the 1960's, the explosion of television and the mass media, and the general interest in the vernacular? Or what about how the invention of photography as a technology affected the future of painting? Everything that is made, be it consciously or otherwise, is a by-product of its surroundings..."
-Christopher W. Weeks

SERAFIMA SOKOLOV, Plantation, FL

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:32:42 -0500

"The subject matter of child soldiers is transformed into vibrant paintings to give a stronger reaction than the original image of the child in the field. The haunting image of the child is meant to overpower the viewer into understanding the plight of over 2,500 children in arms around the globe. The idea is explored further in representational installments depicting the enticement of war and the destruction of innocence and life. The ultimate objective is to influence the viewer to support goups such as UNICEF and the Coalition Against the use of Child Soldiers.

Painting from real photographs, the work speaks of the suffering of human kind throughout the ages. Bright, contrasting neon colors reinforce the ideas of the sources, imitating night vision and negative photography. These paintings act as a media source by reaching out to the public to help my subjects.
-Serafima Sokolove

STEPHANIE WARBURG, Boston, MA

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:47:07 -0500

Stephanie Warburg enjoys a playful interchange with her environment, in which the enjoyment of color plays an important role. Her work is atmospheric, bordering on naive, but too centered and compositionally precise as to betray her depth of understanding. One wanders in and out of the surface, finding oneself in a state of experiential vision. Colors opalescent, surprising in some sense, when a darkened tree limb makes an appearance. There is always some element in these paintings that ties the whole piece together, whether it be a transluscent glaze, or something in the composition. The light is always apparent, also, as the artist unites it with the color throughout the entire surface.

JEANNINE HUNTER LAZZARO, N.Attleborough, MA Returning Artist

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:59:47 -0400

"To me the nature of each color is like a personality. Just like people colors are different in different relationships and in different settings. I love the way one color can completely change a composition, just like one person can completely change a group dynamic. In my work I am exploring the process of painting and the way that colors manifest themselves in simple and at times extraordinary ways. The way colors play against each other. The way collage elements in a painting create lines and shapes. The rich, images created in stain painting when echoes and shadows of colors are left behind during the process.

Everything seen is a reflection of light and what is left over is color. Color is what remains, the debris of light. Color is the dust of energy, the echo, the whisper, the shadow. In a colorless place there is still value. There is still quiet and noise. Blindness can recognize a whisper, value, quiet and noise, but not the light of color. The absence of color is white. The absence of color is black. These are both true."
-Jeannine Hunter Lazzaro

MERYL NATOW, Woodmere, NY

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:16:34 -0400

Meryl Natow has an uncanny love for her subjects, as well as what they inspire and symbolize. Incredibly positive, the images manage to impart social issues without cynism. They are seen purely in the joy of their existence: the joy of marriage in general BECAUSE of the reality of same-sex marriage. The joy of unity BECAUSE of differences. This artist is very persuasive in her simple, yet profound statement of just the pure joy in being.

MATTHEW

Sun, 24 May 2009 04:43:24 -0400

Sharp and bold, the work by CommonArt artist Matthew is as assertive and fearless as the artist himself. Inspired by observation of the life around him, both on the street and in the broader sense of global community, Matthew strives to understand himself through his role as an artist. His work is pure emotion and expression, it would seem, on the surface. But upon conversation, one finds Matthew�s sense of meaning and compassion an acute and important part of the work.

The colors and textures are not shy. The paint seems to take on a mind of its own as it makes its way across the canvas.

Matthew has a great future as an artist, as his work reflects Universal truths as well as personal victories.

JUDY SILVERSTEIN, Needham, MA Returning Artist

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:26:00 -0400

"My work is colorful, playful, spontaneous, unlike my more serious true nature. Perhaps the other side of my personality shows up in my painting."
-Judy Silverstein

COLLABORATIVE ART, Lynn, MA Returning Artists

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:19:09 -0500

Something special happens when artist collaborate with a common goal. They inspire each other, feed off each other, and become as one entity. This is quite apparent in the works of the three artists coming together from Collaborative Artworks. There is a power present in the storytelling each of them do, revolving around personal expression of observation. The work stands powerfully individually, also, with each artist obviously contributing an equal amount of personal and aesthetic energy to the whole. The result is a resonance of aesthetics and commentary.

DAVID KAISER, Hillsborough, CA Solo Exhibition Winner

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:53:47 -0500

David Kaiser utilizes the strong psychological implications that color manifests on multiple levels. By incorporating the essential rather garish, yet innocent color into pieces that start with strong subject matter, the artist is creating, or better yet, bringing out the irony. This is what makes the work reflect the impersonal nature of the ever-present veils, and threats to our collective evolution.

LAUREN CURTIS, Franklin Park, NJ Gallery Member

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:53:32 -0500

Day and Night are depicted in these works by Lauren Curtis. This artist tends towards nature-inspired totems to begin with, but in these works, she has taken another step. She surveys the Earth in time both linear and circular. The artist has found the source, and it is her unique connection to planetary motion that finds her able to reveal this so energetically. As a practicing Pagan, Lauren Curtis is steeped in the awareness of nature-centered mysticism. Through her continued spiritual search, she is able to reflect her journey through these, her newest pieces.

PAUL RYAN

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:30:19 -0500

CommonArt has found an unexpected artist in Paul Ryan. He originally had very little intention to make art, but found himself in the thick of it with the encouragement of staff and fellow artists.

Paul grew up in Dorchester, MA, where he resided for most of his life. He recalls work for an insurance company there, which would seem to contradict the freedom of his painting style! Upon conversation with the artist, one finds an uncanny memory for places, people, and things. He rigorously sticks to schedules, which is another reason to wonder about the freedom of his paint!

Paul�s forms and colors are straightforward, the texture smooth and fluid. He enjoys painting animals, and has a knack for understanding the beauty of simplicity.

Paul has been very fortunate in this short career, having sold much of his work in a very short time.

TAE WON KIM, Seoul, South Korea Returning Artist

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:29:57 -0500

Is black and white and greys the absence of color like we are initially prone to believe? (Yes, I know, black is the absence of color, and white the combination of all colors. However, we always seem to look at white as a proving ground for the potential of colors' manifestation, rather than a color or combination of thereof...) In these simple, beautiful photographs, Tae Won Kim has made black and white into the entire range of color by the energy of the floral forms. They move throughout the pieces with joy unbounded, generating sparks of color that trick the eye. There is an opalescent quality to the pieces. The basic hues of black and white are given status as color themselves, as one finds the unexpected in unlikely places.