Monday, July 27, 2009

Amy Kaufman, Mary Bourke and Jennifer O'Connell - now through Friday


The gallery season continues at Left Bank Gallery with an exhibit by three New England artists: Mary Bourke, Amy Kaufman and Jennifer O'Connell. The show will be on exhibit through July 31.

Mary Bourke's new body of work, Standing in Time, explores recurring themes of family and nostalgia.

"In my paintings I have attempted to carve out a portion of time and space in history , even if it is just my own small history," says Bourke. "These paintings have become a small part of the whole, almost like pieces of a puzzle. They have become my voice."

Amy Kaufman's one-of-a-kind painted monotypes are made by combining direct painting with impressions made using the printing press. With oil-based inks, Kaufman paints on a smooth sheet of plexiglas. The plate is then run through a press so that the image from the plate is transferred to paper. The pressure from the roller of the press determines how much ink from the plate will be imbedded into the paper. Sometimes Kaufman will do an overprint, repeating the process on the same sheet of paper, or she may paint directly on the paper.

Says Kaufman of the process: "The element of surprise as you slowly take the paper off the plate after it is run through the press is always exciting. The unique impression achieved from printmaking has to do with more than just what you paint: the inks, the press, and the paper. I enjoy exploring this printmaking process finding it creative, challenging, intriguing, and satisfying."

Jennifer O'Connell's representational interiors in oil are new to Left Bank Gallery this season.

"Obscure, private visions that alienate the mind in daylight, keep a potent mooring within me," says O'Connell. "Inspired by what the mind conjures, perception is influenced by contemplation. Shadows, objects, and shapes are gateways to memories. Imaginings mingle with perceptions. In dreaming before rooms, I come in contact with transient psychological aspects. Literally and symbolically, the interior space is the self."

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