Current Exhibition

by Karen Braun Malpas

The work in this new exhibition shows us that unique ephemeral quality of light described as Luminous.

The work was, of course, limited to real materials such as paint and paper but, many of these images can trip the viewer into a memory or experience of nostalgia beyond the image itself. For me, it was M.A.Dalander’s  “Road to Monpazier”. Although I’ve never been at that site, I’ve walked a road like that. The image evokes for all of us our own country road, the smell of sun-baked weeds in our locale, August heat on our legs, the company of our own good dog all triggered by the luminous quality of light he depicts.

Similarly, “A Pismo Idyll” by Patricia Moyes is a very pale, bleached watercolor of dense fog, thickly obscuring the landscape, reminding each of us of our own experience of  fog…the smell of it,  the feel of it on our face, the yin-yang of  fog’s hush pierced by the bleat of a foghorn  all triggered by the obliterating quality of light in her painting.

Two photos by Barbara James , “Death Valley” and “Sunset on the Bay”,  seem to capture a precise moment of luminous radiance before the light moves and this moment of incredible beauty passes .
The moon is luminosity par excellence. It takes on a romantic, veiled quality in Laura Joy  Sonidos black and white photo “Celestial Serenity.” This group show hangs June 1 - August 1

In the backroom is a show themed “Living with Fire” by multi-media artist Aundi Taylor.
She is a person who takes serious things seriously and she is dead serious about fire,
it’s amoral power and capacity to ravage living things. The walls are covered with images of
horror as well as beauty as we witness supple greens becoming brittle black.

In her sculptures and jewelry, she co-creates with nature by using found remains in a way  which inspire with memory and hope.  Her father was a firefighter but, Aundi is also fighting it 
in the way artists do— symbolically and aesthetically with a ferocity lit by her personal creative fire.
Can art lower the temperature of the planet? It can raise awareness and help provide 
tools for survival and resilience while we adapt to  this  changing world.
Aundi’s show hangs June 6 - June 29.