Art Show: Newness

If you're in the New Hampshire area this December and January, and more specifically, Rochester, NH, there's a "must-see" art show happening at the artstream gallery. "Newness" is an exhibit by three artists, Lisa Solomon, Heather Smith Jones and Jen Garrido. The guidelines to the exhibit were; newness, shiny, tangle, holding, reflection, needle and white. Below are the artist's statements from the show.


Lisa Solomon:


Newness, shiny, tangle, holding, reflection, needle, white.

These were the "guidelines" in the making of these paintings.

Tangle / holding / newness :: I turned to my Japanese crochet books - because doilies are tangled and because you hold them. Plus if you make them you get a chance to create something new. I see diagrams in these crochet books as road maps - they are so clearly delineated. I love that you don't need to read a language in order to understand them. If you understand the mark making then you can decipher them bit by bit.

Newness :: I chose to use the doilies that represented Winter and Spring in the books [they illustrate doilies for the 4 seasons]. Winter for the new year and Spring for new beginnings.


Heather Smith Jones:

For this series of small-scale canvases I explore austere groupings of still-life objects, such as discarded jelly glasses and jars, and place them against plain or patterned grounds. Whether the vessels contain vibrant or wilting flowers or nothing at all, to me they reflect a presence of life. In all the works the paint surface is thick and the pieces are beautifully framed in handmade walnut frames made by my husband.



Jen Garrido


I construct my paintings and drawings by using a delicate balance of choice and process.

In response to personal narrative and internal dialogue, to the push and pull of the compositions internal gravity, and to the medium of the paint or drawing materials, I project images and forms onto the surface. As I compose, I weave shapes through the picture plane, the gestures I record can read alternatively as flat or as dimensional and sculptural. I favor nature-based forms and rhythms and I am drawn to shapes that tangle, overlap, sit, lean and lay. In my most recent work, the monochromatic compositions balance between architectural and organic, painted and drawn, and formal and biomorphic.

The artwork from this show is also for sale online at artream studio's shop here.

artstream LLC, 56 North Main Street, Rochester, NH 03867
v-603.330.0333 f-603.330.3444

Jan Halvarson

2 comments:

artist in the arctic said...

This is the best thing I have laid my eyes on today. Thanks for sharing Jan. I love the idea of a carefully chosen strand of words guiding an exhibit and evoking the art that is created. Powerful artist statements too. Wow. Wishing I was in New Hampshire to see it in person!

christina said...

WOW. I went to sift through all of the images on the link to the site for the show, and my God. They are so breathtaking. Thank you thank you thank you for sharing!