P FINE ART

Born in Madrid, Spain, Esther Rosa is Spanish American multidisciplinary artist whose exquisite expressions in paper clay, painting and sculpture communicate the potent power of transformation..

Through composition and color, she illuminates both archetypal beauty and the radiance of imperfection. Rosa’s work is deeply linked to her background as a trained psychologist and life coach; for seventeen years she worked in organizational human resources. Her pieces have been exhibited at several solo shows as well as group shows in New York, Miami, Paris and Madrid. She was selected as a featured artist for the Creative Mischief Show at the National Academy Museum in New York. Rosa also holds a diploma in Fine Arts from the National Academy School of Fine Arts and Museum in New York (2012) and a Life Coach Certification in Energy Leadership from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching, iPEC (2018). She lives and works in New York City.

의식의 샘

단색조의 색채가 화면 전체를 지배하고 있고, 두 색 면이 위아래로 나뉘어져 있으며 그 색 면 위로 원과 사각 기둥이 배치되어 있다.

원은 외곽으로 확장되어지는 느낌으로 표현되어 있고 세 개의 사각 물체는 일정 간격으로 쌍을 이루며 나란히 배치되어 있다.

세계는 진실 되고 풍요롭고 아름다운 것이 좋다. 인류는 이 목표를 위해 꾸준히 달려왔다. 그러나 인류의 의식은 물질만능의 사회를 동경하고 지향하면서 결국 그것을 쟁취하기 위한 전쟁과 살생까지도 마다하지 않았다. 물질문명의 현대로 오면서 지구 한편에서는 기아 및 빈곤이 자리 잡고 정신의 부재로 인한 자살, 약물중독, 이기주의, 각종 사고로 이어지고 있다. 결국 인류는 넓은 의미에서 늘 불안하고 삶과 죽음이라는 굴레에서 자유로울 수 없다. 아름다운 삶과 행복을 위해 모두가 뛰었지만 인류가 추구하고자 하는 정신적, 육체적, 풍요로움에 도달하기는 아직 요원하게만 느껴진다. 정치, 경제, 사회, 문화예술, 종교가 외치던 풍요로움은 아직은 없다. 인류의 시각은 자신의 심연을 떠나 외적인 것에 익숙해져 있다.

확장되면서 완성되어진 의식은 풍요롭고 아름답다. 아름다움의 의식은 태초 인류의 두뇌에 각인되어 있었던 신의 선물이며 심연의 내부의식 그것을 찾고 바라보는데서 진실의 미의식을 바로 볼 수 있을 것이다. 즉 이제는 외적 시각에서 내적 시각으로 내부 의식의 세계를 찾아 참자아의 본질을 발견하는데 미의 가치를 두고자 한다.

화면에서의 모든 형과 사물은 내적 울림의 에너지를 갖는다. 화면에서 이루어지는 단색조와 원, 사각물체의 물질적 요소는 추상적이며 창조적 내부의식 세계를 이끌어내기 위한 조형 활동이다. 동시에 화면과 관찰자 사이의 소통을 가능하게 하는 매개체이기도 하다. 화면에서의 점, 선, 면, 색은 내부 의식 세계의 심연 활동을 유도한다.

원은 밖으로 확산 되어지는 느낌으로 색 면의 가로선을 끼고 미래를 향해 상승하는 움직임의 역동성을 갖는다. 희망, 꿈, 기쁨, 에너지, 확산 등의 의미를 상징화 시켰다. 사각물체는 절제된 정돈과 반복 그리고 질서의 완성미를 이끌게 된다. 위치와 모양에서 느껴지는 대로 중심, 조화, 질서의 미를 상징화 시킨다.

원과 사각물체는 상호적 관계로 마주하며 은밀한 긴장감을 만들어 낸다. 이 긴장감은 모든 감각을 통해 내적인 울림의 에너지를 생성 시키고 참자아의 본성을 깨닫는 의식의 샘이 될 것이다. 또한 인간이 추구하고자 하는 이상세계의 성장을 위한 좌표로 제시될 수 있을 것이다.

작가노트 주 운 항

Carole Jury is both a photographer and an abstract painter who combines the two mediums of expression in her process, starting from photography and then transposing it to painting to create her series with poetic names such as Dark sea, La Vie en Rose, Time goes by or Metal Song.

Her signature resides in her broad textured strokes, her ability to capture shadows and lights and her eye for color with canvases from vibrant reds to calming blues, subtle nuances of whites to powerful blacks. Working mainly in oils but also in acrylics, Carole Jury likes to play with materials to express herself.

It is this unobtrusive, yet fascinating quality of Carole’s abstractions that makes them so suitable to any interior space, whether private or public.

Her modern approach and love for design has led her to study interior design at New York Design Institut.

She is represented by galleries based in the USA, in France and inItaly and virtual galleries. Her work can be found in private collections in Europe, USA, Dubaï, Germany... and is exhibited in major art fairs as Context Miami, Scope Miami & NYC, Aqua Art Miami, Art on paper NYC, Art World Dubaï, Affordable Art Fair NYC, Stockholm, Art show Los Angeles… Carole Jury is a French born artist, who lives between Bangkok and New York.

She is the founder of Women Artists from France.

Museumweek selected one of her paintings from “Lagoon” Series in 2020.

My artistic approach is based on an analysis and interpretation of society, building on my academic background studying humans and social issues. I feel the need to speak up to bring these observations to light and incite people to act.

Our minds are spinning. The flow of thoughts, mass information, stimuli and questions are fast and omnipotent: never has society faced such high rates of anxiety and depression. As I paint to discover myself as an artist, a woman, and a citizen, I project on canvas my vision of our modern society, a society run by organizations that fight to control people's minds with marketing and mass data. I paint with a specific purpose of education and awareness. I put visuals on the canvas to open this dialogue about our current state of alienation and the urgent need to open our eyes and break free. The visuals I create are situated between figuration and abstraction, stillness and movement, using painting, words, and photography. In this era of globalization, we are constantly labeled and categorized. We experience analysis paralysis, where excessive reflection is hindering our ability to act. Our habits and routines can sometimes lead us down a path that becomes increasingly challenging to break away from. With empathy, I create a diagnosis of who we are together.

In my visual explorations of our contemporary society, I bring to the surface the unconscious endeavors that are often ignored. As a child of the 90's who once studied the impact of society on individuals as a criminologist, I make art about the issues of our age. By deliberately obstructing some elements, and choosing to remove others, I leave space for interpretation, suggesting the confusion of the perceptual state we live in, inviting my spectators to question their role in the world. Through my art, I challenge the belief that our senses allow us to understand reality as it appears, by revealing the illusions that lie behind appearances.

Karl Stengel (1925 - 2017)

The works by the Hungarian master, Karl Stengel, are divided into two major groups that are seemingly quite different from each other: the large canvases dominated by colour, of strong emotional and lyrical abstract expressionist impact, that have their roots sunk in post-war American and European informel experimentation and in some pre-war Russian avant-garde art, and then the surreal representations of a smaller size on paper, with a more markedly European ancestry, in particular German Expressionism. The works are all very original and of great impact, and are united by a rare merit: they all have absolute artistic identity but at the same time have strong cultural roots in the history of art of the twentieth century. Stengel’s strong figurative preparation, linked to an astonishing ability to draw, comes to the forefront in the second series of works, this time mixed media on paper. In his works, predominantly those in pastel and pencil on paper, Stengel never looked to be only abstract but also suggests a simplified poetically surreal language; in the last period he abandons himself to the fantastic triumph of pure colour, in a joyous, absolute and formal freedom, to then return to a shadow of figuration.

More information about Karl Stengel, search at Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Stengel

Artist Ahn Hyungon tells: “I am quite interested in nature, but I do not want to draw landscape paintings.” His works are not designed to observe and record the landscape as a result of nature from other’s perspectives. What he aims to do is to look for the natural principle and its origin. The primitive world of ‘nature’ is the root of humans as well as the process of seeking the truth: searching for one’s original self from the massive order of nature, which is oneself and the basis of oneself. This is not a superficial interest in the floating phenomenon but a journey to true nature. Ahn’s floating seasons are revealed on the screen, especially in the components filtered on the same lines through time and concentration. Thus, things and objective worlds cannot be reproduced (as a landscape) and instead, approach toward the original world, although it is hidden and rather ambiguous and abstract. From time to time, the artist uses conceptual symbols, lines, and languages as a means to expand his pliant thoughts and to reveal nature’s principles.

Making art is an endless and fascinating journey of discovery for me.  I work in all manner of media, combining sewing, painting and drawing.  I use images as metaphors to represent the eternity of life - the familiar and ever present in our lives.  I focus on the beauty and spirituality of humankind from a desire to keep it alive within the difficult world that we live.   

Using collage as a basis for each artwork, I incorporate paper, fabric from old clothes, old monoprints and maps that I have collected over the years.   Because of the personal elements within the work, each piece can be interpreted biographically, as places that I have visited or references to home, family and mythology.  Ultimately, through the sewing, weaving and blending of materials and images, there is a reflection of what we all share in the world, a unity that reminds us of the simplicity of life. 

Coming from a minimalist philosophy, my quiet canvases carry a message of pure beauty and peace. Maintaining a fixed format allows me to find the freedom to express the lights, colors, and emotions that can be evoked from these simple elements.

After selecting a color through a visceral reaction, I manipulate pigments suspended in liquid to create a surface of fluidity. My gestural actions, the motions of water on the surface, as well as the climatic conditions of the day, all affect the outcome of the various color intensities. The surfaces show traces of scrapes, pooled liquids, and pigment-free areas where the surface has resisted the pigment. I take delight in the balance of these effects against the hard-edged geometric structure that defines the work’s physical presence.

I seek to find a sense of harmony between the clear minimalist structure and the emotional expressionist response.  It is within this harmony that I search for the lyrical beauty of the color itself.

Edward Rilke

Edward Rilke was born in Paris. On receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree, Rilke moved to Australia to discover his paternal roots and to follow one of his passions, scuba diving. His particular love of photography grew after moving to Sydney, where he began to experiment using the new forms of technology. Rilke’s innovative images begin from reality but are so manipulated that a new image is created which is then left to the viewer to interpret. Rilke puts an undisputable intrinsic beauty before the observer. The strong colors that pervade his works, in part look back to his youth and his memories of life in the South of France. Most recently, Rilke has been experimenting on an exciting new project using video screens where his characteristic panels seem static but every so often one of the images changes at random. He is currently successfully experimenting with the creation of NFTs. His recent collective and solo exhibitions have been in Italy, Mexico, Spain, UK and France. He is a member of the OpenArtCode group, having participated in the exciting London show.

James Hayman (US)

James Hayman is a photographer, director and producer based in Los Angeles. After attending The American University for photojournalism, he studied film at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and post-graduate work at New York University, though his photojournalistic roots still inform his practice today. Working for the UN’s disaster relief efforts after the 1976 earthquake in Guatemala, led to several series of photographic work in Central America. In the 1980s, Hayman began shooting various independent films in New York City and then worked as a cinematographer in China, Japan, and more series of photographic work documenting Asia. In 1989 he moved to Los Angeles to direct and produce multiple television shows and films. Since then, he has directed numerous pilots, including Dangerous Minds and DropDead Diva, as well as episodes of The Sopranos, ER, Law & Order, House, Desperate Housewives, and others. He has worked as an executive producer, most notably on Ugly Betty, which led to winning a Golden Globe Award. He has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Director’s Guild Award.

David Wiener

David’s passion for photography emerged back in the 1970’s when at 16 he was one of the youngest professional photographers in America, shooting the exciting worlds of Formula One, Indy, The Americas Cup, and the US Open. Creating art in various mediums, his highly acclaimed work has been featured in Time-Life Books, Fortune Magazine, Forbes, Newsweek, Yachting, Motor Trend, Robb Report, Maxim and many more international journals. Combining his love of photography with his passion for high-tech design, David has launched a series of limited edition prints he describes as Photographic Constructs exposing the viewer to new ways of seeing technology, architecture, nature and many other subjects through a unique and creative lens. His latest works, NFTs Constructs captivates beauty within elements the human eye often overlooks.

David has been the subject of countless media stories, as well as a PBS documentary about his work in engineering and high-speed vehicles. From all these experiences, David is working on a book and a TED Talk on the realities of entrepreneurship sharing lessons from a 20/20-hindsight perspective. David Wiener’s creations are in the private collections of Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, Sanjay Dutt, Alan Parsons, Pat Metheny, Ferrari SpA, the Mandarin Oriental, Porsche, Starbucks, the Gap, Old Navy, Disney, Underwriters Laboratories, Avasis Technology and many others.

David works from his studio in Park City, Utah. Some of his best ideas are inspired by time spent laughing and cooking meals with clients, family, and friends. About his work, David says, “I’ve spent most of my life observing the aesthetic – people, nature, products, fashion, architecture… everything. It is the critical function of a designer and artist. Both a subconscious and conscious research tool, as well as a critical method of ‘measurement’ – for style, performance, quality and desire. It’s this life-long demand for the elegant aesthetic that has trained me to look – and to see – detail and pattern in objects that might otherwise go unnoticed or hidden by the combination (or concert) of their surroundings.”

Sarit Lichtenstein-Alter grew up in Mexico City, where she was born in 1961. In her youth, she was deeply influenced by the paintings of David Alfaro Siqueiros and Frida Kahlo, but also very impressed by European and American paintings, including works by Jackson Pollock. She received her education and training as a painter and sculptor at reputable institutes in three different continents:

1980 – 1984 Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City

1984 – 1986 Istituto Europeo di Design, Rome, Italy

1988 – 1990 Bezalel Art Academy, Jerusalem, Israel

Her first solo exhibition “Number A“ took place in 1989 in the Jerusalem Artist House. In the same year, she was awarded a prize in a competition organized by the Japan Design Foundation in Osaka. The representation of the elements in Sarit Lichtenstein’s ”Fire“ had impressed the jury.

Since finishing her studies, she has been a member of the Painters and Sculptors Association Israel and has been passing on her knowledge, both practical and theoretical, to art students of all ages. Having taken the step to become a teacher very early on in her career, she continued her education, developing and extending her skills by actively participating in seminars in various museums and studios. While living temporarily in Switzerland from 1990-91, she displayed works entitled “Imaginary 1“ and “Imaginary 2“ and designed a stylized lotus blossom for the facade of the Kunsthausstube Eintracht, a guesthouse in Schwändi. The lotus blossom has, in the meantime, become the restaurant’s official logo.

Since 1991, Sarit Lichtenstein has been living in Germany, exhibiting her work in Mannheim, Dinkelsbühl and other German cities. She has also continued to exhibit in Mexico City. In 1997, she participated once more in a group exhibition during the 8th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Osaka, Japan – this time with ”Print-works.“ For the oil painting, “Water Melons,” she received the Centro Cultural – Casa Lamm – Prize in Mexico City in 1988.

Her works are painted in a free-painting style, which recalls the “dripping“ technique developed by Jackson Pollock. Sarit Lichtenstein uses the expression “action painting“ to describe the genesis of her art as fleeting and spontaneous actions. Color is at the forefront of her work. The basic colors of red, yellow and blue are applied unmixed onto the canvas. To achieve contrast, she makes use of complementary colors that lend spatiality and depth to her paintings. She also practices etching and monotype techniques. Lichtenstein’s work is frequently light and cheerful even when it strikes the viewer as melancholy or reflective. Graphics blend masterfully with painterly elements, giving attention to the subject considerably. This is particularly evident in her confrontation with language, which she oscillates between interpreting in a concrete fashion and speaking metaphorically. She has devoted an entire series of etchings and paintings to this theme.

In 2007, the artist participated in a seminar dealing with themes of image and text in the Fundació Pilar Joan Miró in Palma de Majorca, Spain and created an artist book with artists from various countries. Since 2008, she has been a member of the Asociación de la Plástica de Garza García, A.C., Monterrey Nuevo León, México.

In 2009, she produced the series ”Circle of Independence“ consisting of 19 works in aquarelle and mixed techniques, focusing on the roles of factors such as ”Love“, ”Tolerance“ and ”Hope“ on the independence of the individual.

In co-operation with the Consulado General de México in Frankfurt am Main, Sarit Lichtenstein was responsible as the project manager and curator from 2008 – 2010 for the recognition of ”México Contemporáneo,“ an exhibition commemorating the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence. The exhibition presents contemporary Mexican artists in Europe with the aim of supporting co-operation and cultural exchange between continents.

In 2011, Sarit Lichtenstein was invited to the VIII Biennale of Contemporary Art in Florence to present her series: “Circle of Independence.”

In 2014, Sarit Lichtenstein was invited by Keren Kayemeth at the LeIsrael Jewish National Fund to create an artwork commemorating the 66th Independence day of Israel. The artwork “66 Years Israel” was printed in a limited edition.

In 2015, Sarit Lichtenstein participated in the Frankfurt Art Fair. In the same year, her installation "Botanical Garden" was shown at Artexpo New York. In cooperation with Keren Hayesod Frankfurt, she curated and organized the charity auction, "Art with a Heart," to raise funds for the Aleh Negev project for disabled children.

Sarit Lichtenstein’s sense of obligation as an artist is linked to her concerns for the disadvantaged. Thus, she is active in the support and sponsorship of social projects such as Komen Deutschland e.V., an organization involved in the battle against breast cancer.

For years, her work has been acquired by art collectors all around the world.

‘Artist’ Collection Truly a Model Exhibition

By Wesley Pulkka

For the Journal

Albuquerque art maven Ralph Greene is having a 16-piece solo paintings show at Exhibit 208 through March 1.  His exhibition explores the historically familiar “Artist and the Model” theme.

Greene is a postmodernist abstract expressionist who revisits an arena already explored by several modernists including Pablo Picasso, Willem De Kooning, George McNeil, Francis Bacon, and Henri Matisse.

My favorite Ralph Greene Painting is “Daddy’s Rocker,” which contains stylistic elements from Matisse Picasso and De Kooning. 

To arrive at “Daddy’s Rocker” Greene borrowed a touch of anger toward women from De Kooning’s “Woman” series from the 1950s and added a sprinkle of controlled distortion from Picasso’s “Girl at the Mirror” and many drawings and sculptures of nudes by Matisse. 

The surface is replete with expressionistic brushwork, gobs of raw color and the rough tactile quality of real life in the city.

Greene brought to the painting his own experiences, Male artists have been accused over the years of exploiting women in pursuit if ideal form.  Early European academic artists like Michelangelo studied the male nude to understand the muscular structure.  The soft curves offered by female nudes had no appeal to Michelangelo, who pursued Greek and Roman classicism.

It can be argued that1 9th century artists as Bouguereau did, in fact, exploit very young women to titillate his way to fame and fortune.  In Picasso’s more explicit prints the relationship between artist and model is blatantly sexual. 

However, in Greene’s case, a search for an understanding of the feminine within himself is an equally compelling argument for the use of the female form.

Greene distorts, exaggerates and otherwise pummels the nude as a way of dissecting his own feminine aspect.  He vigorously applies paint straight out of the tube and keeps his brush in constant motion.  The surface becomes a circus arena where wildness and abandon are welcomed only to be brought under control by Greene as ringmaster.

Among these works are elegant passages, violent slashes, and piles of hues that accumulate in certain areas like wind-blown leaves.  These paintings exude passion, violence, high energy, love of paint and a need to use acerbic color as means of expressing anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.

They easily express out the contemporary dilemma of terrorism, runaway resource consumption, corporate greed, the threat of open warfare and a staggering economy.  Greene’s women make a  wonderful metaphor for Mother Earth under assault.

In “Rose,” a pastel on paper, Greene presents a Picasso-like nude with flowers that are pure Matisse.  In the background is a fragmented pink nude that could have evolved from Bacon’s strange view of the world.

Though they may be inspired by predecessors, “Daddy’s Rocker” and “Rose” remain Greene’s unique expression.  They are not appropriated images or in any way a copy of someone else’s composition.

In ”Wing Stuck, 1994,” Greene explores the theme of “Nemesis” first examined by Albert Durer during the 16th century.  It was the ungainly female nude in “Nemesis” that chronicled Durer’s move away from a geometric formalized view of beauty toward a more expressive acceptance of flawed form and distortion.

Greene makes no pretense of idealized beauty while at the same moment capturing essential forms that as a whole manifest a redefinition of idealism.  Greene studied painting in New York with George McNeil during the early 1960s and went on to achieve a tenured art faculty position before moving to New Mexico more than 10 years ago.

His solo show at Exhibit 208 is a homecoming on many levels.  The gallery was once owned by Greene, who used his role as a gallery director to uncover New Mexico talent with great aplomb.

Greene also imported shows from New York including a solo exhibit of McNeil’s paintings shortly before the artist’s death. 

Greene is, after all, a New York artist who decided to offer his energies to New Mexico.  He divides his time between his studio and art history classes at Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute.

His paintings reflect Big Apple aesthetics but have been enchanted by his new home.

As layers accumulate, they connect into a single light. Relationships with people are much the same. It’s about how the person beside you influences and transforms you, how they cover your flaws and imperfections while helping you discover your true light. Meeting someone who can do this is an extraordinary blessing and one of the most beautiful experiences of being human. No one can live alone; we need to be illuminated by someone else’s light and, in turn, illuminate others with our own. The "Becoming One" series is a narrative about existence and coexistence.-From the artist's note

Sook Kim is an artist based in South Korea whose paintings have been exhibited nationally, as well as in India, China and USA. Her central theme is the cockscomb flower. Kim hopes that people live their lives like flowers and that her compositions bring about their happiest memories. Through the layering of oils, she gives the image additional mass and dimension, harmonizing the interpretation of three-dimensional shapes with formative variations.

Sonja Kalb reduces to the essential: shapes and the substance of colours. Her means of expression are surface structures and textures, strong contrasts, at times expressive colour choices and play with colour surfaces that partly conceal, partly reveal what lies beneath. In order for the complexity and optical depth of the paintings to become perceptible, parts of the canvas remain open. To apply layers, she uses paintbrushes and palette knives, oil crayons, pencil, and pigments. Travelling is her source of inspiration: she is guided by memories of a place’s colours, its nature, particular patterns of light and shadow. Her artistic practice is a painted response to the disrespect of the environment and the fast pace of the increasingly digitalized world; an expression of her desire that we have respect for our surroundings and that we recognize the urgency of a sustainable protection of nature.

Won Sil Kim

Artist statement

Korean-born artist, Won Sil Kim, found inspiration for her latest work of collage art pieces from both nature and contemporary culture.

"My work is largely informed by the natural scapes of where I live or where I had been. Since I started living in Los Angeles mountainside, I slowly changed toward depicting beauty of being from taking out of the inner world,” says Kim. “When I started using photo images, I thought about the photos that I had taken not being all about my art. I really wanted to make different images beyond the photos. Since then, I have used different materials, clear acrylic sheets instead of canvases, transparent photo images, and paint strokes. My intention is to show all the layers of different materials through a clear acrylic panel. The layers of my work enhance a sense of mystic quality and the joy of imagination.”

Solo Exhibitions

2019  Jung-gu Art Tong, Pildong Nol-Nol, Seoul Korea

2018  Ma-po Culture Center, Seoul Korea

2017  Noon Juried show, Seoul Korea

2016  Da-dam, Seoul Korea

       I-mok, Jee-um

2015  Art Space No, Juried show Seoul Korea

Group Exhibitions

2019  Gallery 89, Paris France

       Art Tong, Street Museum 

       Art Place 368, Seoul Korea

       Gallery, Shin

2018  KIAF (Korea International Art Fair) Seoul, Korea
       Se-jong National Culture Center

       Gallery A

       Lotte Art Gallery

2017  Hong-Ik University Art Museum

Park Fine Art, Albuquerque NM, USA

Art Santa Fe, NM USA

Gallery A

Gallery Wave

Bowee

Eu-jeen Gallery

Galley La Mere, Seoul Korea

Education

MFA  Hong-Ik Graduate School

BFA  Hyub-sung University

Young-sook Park is an artist whose work captures the beauty and emotion of the world around us. Through her cityscape paintings, she communicates a sense of romanticism and memory that is transformed into fast and vivid impressions, expressed in bright and pure colors that reflect a positive vision of the world. Her Hope Series, on the other hand, represents the other side of the coin, where she explores feelings of pain and alienation in impoverished areas while maintaining a sense of hope for a better future, The paintings evoke a sense of solidarity and beauty in the midst of darkness, reminding us that even in challenging circumstances, light can always shine through. Through her unique perspective, Young-sook Park invites us to see the world in a new light and to connect with the shared emotion of pathos

www.youngsookpark.com

My paintings are executed in oil on birch wood panels in mostly warm earthen colors. I love to paint about the mythic reality - the world of magic and the mysteries without the constraints of logic. My work exists in a sort of parallel world that is both beautiful and a little frightening.

Concepts like metaphysics, mathematics, deep rivers, mysterious ships, and hybrid human-animal people pique my imagination. Sometimes a poem or a song will give me a picture.

I am a painter based in Taos, New Mexico. Born in Managua, Nicaragua, I moved to Taos in the winter of 1989/1990. In 2016 I became a Signature Member of the Taos Watercolor Society, in 2023 I was elected as President of the organization. I paint large, loosely figurative paintings in mixed watermedia (acrylic and watercolor- both) on hardboard. My work often portrays travel, the American West, historic/family photographs, and magical realism. My color palette is bright, influenced by my childhood in Latin America; and I am known for the frequent use of yellow in my paintings, especially my yellow skies.

David Harry (US)

David Harry's large abstract paintings have been defined as Anti-Action Painting, where slow drips and brush strokes of warm colors that stratify and overlap, form depth, veiling and nuances. His method of painting does not use fast jets and dynamic sprays of paint on the canvas which then descend irregularly, but more as slow and warm drips that stratify, one layer on top of another, to create a profoundly deep effect. Fields of light and shade, of cold and warm tones, of black, cobalt blue, vermilion, blood-red and blinding golden candor, in a depth of field where many a time, the viewer perceives perspective and three-dimensionality. David perfectly combines experimentation and tradition with his intuitive sense of color. Born to artist parents, he breathed the smell of paint and learned painting techniques from an early age. Alongside his famous abstract works, David has created a series of portraits over the years and has also experimented with other techniques: one of his marble sculptures is part of the permanent collection of the ALMA sculpture park in Spain.

Over the past four decades, Jackie Sleper (b. 1962) has been meticulously crafting artworks that illuminate beauty while contesting injustice. Her creative vision frequently explores themes such as seduction, resilience, and the dichotomy of power and powerlessness, particularly in women. Her art is an intriguing portrayal of human relationships, the innocence of children, and the vulnerability of animals and nature. Sleper's artistic repertoire is teeming with vibrant, multi-layered photographs, drawings, collages, paintings, and sculptures. Each piece, subtly steeped in her personal experiences, is an interplay of her reflections, memories, and fantasies. Her artistry draws inspiration not only from her imaginative poems but also from the intimate entries in her journal, making each creation a unique narrative of her inner world.

Jackie’s artwork, inspired by nature, animals, and people, often finds greater resonance in the clear simplicity of the natural world than in complex human emotions. From a young age, she expressed a rebellious spirit and a strong desire for individuality, building a makeshift sanctuary from tree branches and found objects in her backyard. Despite growing up in a deeply religious family, her independent spirit flourished, leading her to create a unique path influenced by the enduring role of beauty in her life.

Brett Cimino (US)

Brett Cimino's choice to express himself through painting is a profound and introspective one, and his works are a testament to the power of art to unlock a wellspring of emotion and meaning. With every stroke of his paintbrush, he creates a visual language that is at once deeply personal and universally relatable. Cimino's works are marked by a striking use of colour, with vivid hues that pulsate with energy and vitality. His figures are often blurred, hinting at the transience and fluidity of human experience, yet they are also imbued with a rich sense of meaning and emotion. In many of his works, Cimino employs sharp contour lines to define the objects and figures that populate his canvases. This technique creates a sense of structure and order in the swirling whole of colour and shape, suggesting a kind of collage-like aesthetic that is both dynamic and cohesive. What makes Cimino's works so powerful is their ability to transcend the individual and speak to the universal human experience. Through his art, he offers a voice to all those who share in the belief that art can unlock unknown possibilities and offer a means of expression that is both deeply personal and universally relatable.

Italian artist Chiara Taddeucci Sassolini’s works on canvas and those on paper, on first glance two groups

somewhat different from one another, can be fully ascribed to Abstract Art and in particular to the

variegated universe of Informalism. But her painting also draws its inspiration from Expressionism and

German Neo-Expressionism. Chiara’s Expressionism draws or sets out to draw everything (choice of

materials, execution, transposition techniques, rhythm) from deep within herself and not from classical art

or current art trends. Many of her works, in the same way as Art Brut or Outsider Art, depict extreme states

of mind, unconventional ideas, elaborate fantasy worlds. Works borne of solitude and the purest and most

authentic evocative impulses. Having trained in close contact with the fashion world and related

accessories, she often – above all in her paper works – strives to recover the profound sense and meaning

of objects from that glittering and to a certain extent ephemeral profession, meditating on how they

naturally ‘fade away’ over time and how, no longer fashionable, like ‘useless’ scraps or offcuts, they can

take on a new life and identity, in an artistic dimension.

Chiara Taddeucci Sassolini is represented by Abba Gallery and P Fine Ar