Exhibits

The Bodzin Art Gallery continues to feature many local artists in an effort to support the creative talent in our tri-state area.

Expanded Formats

February 14–April 10, 2012

Allison Pasarew creates abstract sculpture that incorporates obsolete mechanical parts. These sculptures have been called “Time Lines” and “Ode to the Obsolete.” Her current works are mixed-media drawings that range from representational to abstract and focus on the beauty of the mechanical objects found in her sculptures. The drawings combine together with her sculpture into her ongoing project, “Expanded Formats,” as the focus of this exhibit.

The framed sculptures lean toward specimens, and the drawings recapture the individuality of the actual objects used in the former. The scale of the drawings is enormous in relation to the original items and it becomes a play in scale, forcing the viewer to interact differently, closely and from a removed distance from each of Allison’s media choice.

Rebecca Zweibel’s pottery literally comes from the earth and figuratively reflects the curves, textures and patterns of nature. Rebecca states, “The natural world influences many of my ideas; I love to fold and scratch and build and draw. A good bowl is engaging to me, but I also like the expressive and quirky ideas conveyed in the hand built and altered pieces.” The artist in Rebecca requires her to like what she is doing and to engage in the process of forming her pieces to hold her interest and encourage experimentation. Each piece that she creates is one that she likes and that she would like to have in her own home. This is directly conveyed to the viewer in the variety and beauty of her ceramic pots.

Exploring Worlds

April 10–May 29, 2012

Avner Ofer covers the globe photographing the essence of the places he views through his lens. Avner says about his work, “Traveling to many remote locations, I attempt to capture intimate moments and glimpses into other cultures. Studying the languages, customs and geography of the places I visit enables me to explore deeper into” the scheme of their lives and reveal the essence of the place. This philosophy allows him to photograph any location from the exotic to his own backyard of Washington, D.C., with the same insight and vision.

Daphne Nadler will be exhibiting her handbags with us. Daphne has been creating a line of original ageless handbags, and she says of the variety of women who carry her bags, “Like me, think outside the box…and appreciate originality, creativity and unique designs.”  Her selection of fine fabrics and feathers, which make use of texture and color, provides us with very user-friendly and functional yet beautiful lasting pieces to compliment our outfits. This is the opportunity to see her newest hand-crafted designs along with some of our favorites.

2011-2012 Exhibits

 M+2S=More than Just Glass

Kari Minnick’s work is “a study in contrasts: order and chaos, thick and thin, questioning and acceptance. Using rich surfaces and layers of glass, I contrast fleshy realism with abstraction…immediacy and restraint, delicacy and directness, confusion and clarity. I try to balance these contrasts personally and artistically.” Kari brings tremendous depth to his glass works with his use of traditional drawing and painting skills and his visual clues to the story of his art. Through the medium of glass he holds true to his “core aesthetic concerns of expressive use of line, and the transmission of light” resulting in delicate and powerful works in glass.

Artist Laurie Siegel states, “When I arrange scraps of glass on my art table I am like a child watching in awe as their paint spreads over the paper!” working primarily in fused glass, also referred to as “warm glass,” Laurie brings to her work a broad background in ceramics, calligraphy, drawing, painting, silkscreening and jewelry design. After traveling in Asia her creative work has been influenced by Chinese and Japanese aesthetic, scroll painting, calligraphy and ikebana flower arranging. “Japanese art makes little distinction between fine art and decorative art.”  The result is each piece as a unique work of art.

Regarding her art, Ruth Siegel explains that, “My work is an interplay between myself and my material. The slow and multi-stage process of kilnforming allows me that kind of relationship. While in the kiln, glass is too hot to handle, but each time it comes out of the kiln there is another opportunity for intimate dialogue. The personality of the piece continues to develop as long as this process continues.“ Ruth’s use of space in and around her pieces becomes an important element. A vessel as a form naturally draws space into itself, but she expands this idea by cutting into the edges, reducing the barrier to the surrounding area. “Cut edges themselves also reach out and integrate with the space in which the object lives, compounding that receptivity.” Life is a source of visual inspiration for her dramatic and creative objects in glass.

Viewpoint
November 1- December 20

Alice Mostoff’s “color-filled images are vigorous, energetic and gestural landscapes and abstractions. These works convey a sense of rhythm and spontaneity.” Alice has been developing her fine art and evolving her drawing and painting style continuously and finds herself facing new horizons with each successive body of work she produces. Her sense of color and design draws the viewer into the world of her art whether real or imagined.

Klaudia Levin is an artist who uses stoneware and porcelain clays to create both functional and visual ceramic pieces. Klaudia works with reduction firing and is a recognized expert in Raku. “She turns functional pieces of attractive balance and weight on the wheel and occasionally hand builds her forms to extend asymmetry and negative space. Klaudia’s pieces are inspired by nature and by her surroundings, and capture the shape, texture and free light play on the urban outdoors.”

The Nature of Art
September 6–November 1

These artists have as their inspiration the beauty and vitality of nature. Each finds their vision and means of expression rooted in organic forms or materials.

Marilyn Morris Berliner draws her audience in with her images of the natural beauty in the world. Drawing and painting since an early age, her expressive voice uses bold colors, vibrant, flowing movements and rhythms. Her art has been her life and inspiration to her students. The focus of this exhibit is her excitement that comes through in her depiction of fruits and vegetables juxtaposed with manmade items as a source of nourishment for the body and mind.

 Dan Burke is a serious woodworker who is inspired by the beauty and variety of woods. To our delight, he crafts boxes for jewelry or keepsakes. His concepts underline the clean designs of his work with the goal of highlighting the wood’s grain to bring out their natural beauty, in basic forms of squares, rectangles with gentle curves. The end results are finely made pieces that you want to touch and use.