FEATURE – April 2013
By Britta Konau

In pursuit of expression, the creative mind does not readily adhere to categorical boundaries.

The passion, but also obsession, behind the urge to communicate in artistic terms. Some artists move between the visual arts and other avenues of expression, including writing, music, and dance. However, for most, creative diversity is more subtly realized.

Pursuing an idea with disregard to perceived boundaries between mediums and genres may feel natural to the artist but will often surprise onlookers who get a chance to view an artist’s full scope of expression. This year’s artist listing focuses on a selection of visual artists with more than one distinct body of work. They may work in more than one medium, shift between two and three dimensions, or switch from one subject matter to another, concurrently or over time. This shift can be as simple, or as complicated, as changing scale or moving between black-and-white and color.
For some artists, shifting between studio and plein air practice results in different subjects and/or working styles. One line of work may be the result of observation, another of intuition or memory. In many cases, a specific theme simply calls for a particular means of realization, resulting in a variety of speeds and complexities of working across artworks. This becomes particularly obvious when an artist switches between techniques that are more intuitive on the one hand, as painting can be, and more rational ones on the other, embodied by some forms of photography, for instance. Even within a single medium, very different outcomes emerge as the artist consciously exercises varying levels of control.
A desire for a straightforward shift in the physicality of working can also be at the root of a change of techniques. For some artists, switching back and forth between mediums and dimensions makes up a large part of the raison d’être for their work and turns it into an evolving process.
Whatever an individual artist’s reason for an expansion of artistic expression, it universally provides additional perspectives. While one work may appear radically different from another on the outside, each is really a natural continuation of its creator’s concerns and interests.

JEFF BADGER

“Everything starts with drawing, but I’ve never felt the need to be tied to one medium. Rather, I think of myself as a storyteller, and discovering what medium will best tell the story is part of my process. I like to explore the variety of experiences a viewer might have with an intimate drawing versus, say, an environment.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Jeff Badger, Rose Contemporary, September

FOR MORE:
jeffbadger.com | Rose Contemporary, rosecontemporary.com

Cupcake Hunt (installation view), 2006, mixed media, dimensions variable
Where Did It Go?, 2011, ink on paper, 4″ x 6″

COLIN BARCLAY

“My approach to painting has always been a fairly visceral one. I want to capture the mood of a story rather than the details, so I try to pare them down to a bare framework. I see the toy paintings as complementary to the landscapes; I like the mood they project, the play of light in the interior spaces.”

FOR MORE:
barclaypaintings.com | Littlefield Gallery, littlefieldgallery.com | Gallery at Somes Sound, frenchmansbay.com

Early Fog, the Sea, 2012, oil on linen, 18″ x 15″
Interior with Felix, 2012, oil on panel, 10″ x 8″

SEAN BEAVERS

“I try to represent the idea that everything is fleeting, although we try to hold on to what is inherently temporal. The landscapes are based on outdoor studies, trying to capture the ever-changing light, sky, and foliage. My still lifes are similarly transient, the focal points of which are usually flora.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Gleason Fine Art, Boothbay Harbor, August

FOR MORE:
seanbeavers.com | Gleason Fine Art, gleasonfineart.com

Boxed Purple, 2010, oil on linen mounted on panel, 10″ x 8″ Eastern Shoals, 2009, oil on linen mounted on panel, 20″ x 20″

DOZIER BELL

“In painting, I aim for a particular sense impression rather than a specific image, so paintings evolve slowly as the suggestion of a subject appears. In contrast, the size and technical simplicity of the drawings allow for quick outlining of a single idea. This rapid flow of visual thought counterbalances the long evolution of the paintings.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Dozier Bell: Mind’s Eye, Bates College Museum of Art, April 5–May 25
Maine Women Pioneers III: Dirigo, University of New England Art Gallery, May 22–July 21

FOR MORE:
dozierbell.com | Aucocisco Galleries, aucocisco.com

Swells, 2012, acrylic on panel, 12″ x 24″
Burg, 06:00, 2011, charcoal on Mylar, 2.5″ x 5″

KATHERINE BRADFORD

“As a child I was encouraged to make gifts rather than to buy them, and even today, my paintings turn out better if I approach them as if I’m making them rather than painting them. Putting color down without worrying about what I’m depicting seems exciting, and I often construct models of my favorite subjects, including ocean liners and icebergs.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Maine Women Pioneers III: Dirigo, University of New England Art Gallery, May 22–July 21
Katherine Bradford Paintings, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, June 29–August 31

FOR MORE:
kathbradford.com | Aucocisco Galleries, aucocisco.com

Liberty + Sailor, 2012, gouache on paper, 11″ x 14″
Ship on Wall, 2012, cardboard, plaster, wood, and paint, 8″ x 6″ x 5″

MEGHAN BRADY

“My studio project coalesces in a messy, organic way. Painting is a complicated give-and-take that requires a lot of looking and reworking, while printmaking is a more straightforward process. The two modes help me see the thread of my project in a new light.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Meghan Brady, Perimeter Gallery, summer

FOR MORE:
meghanbrady.com | Space Gallery, space538.org | ICON Contemporary Art | Coleman Burke Gallery, colemanburke.com | Perimeter Gallery

Do That Dance, 2010, oil on canvas, 18″ x 14″
Red Woodcut #2, 2011, reduction woodcut on paper, 42″ x 36″

EDWIGE CHARLOT

“I recreate physical places and explore emotional conditions in my work. Printmaking, embroidery, and paper cutting are modes of thinking, each requiring varying spans of concentration. Drawing and printing are gestural, whereas cutting and embroidering are more contemplative. I find working in dual bodies provides me with limitless use of my images and motifs.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Edwige Charlot, Isaac Dyer Galleries, May

FOR MORE:
edwigecharlot.com

Jardin Royale, 2011, embroidered hand-dyed cotton, 3” diam.
Bleu Vert, 2012, etching, chine-collé, and screen print, 15” x 11.5″

JANE DAHMEN

“My nonrepresentational work is small, and completely intuitive. Design, color, space, and surface texture evolve as I try to stop thinking. I also push my landscapes further in intuitive ways, making stylized marks which bring attention to the surface. Their large scale creates an environment for the viewer to enter, which I complicate by introducing verticals.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Jane Dahmen, New Works, Gleason Fine Art, Boothbay Harbor, July 18–August 17
Jane Dahmen, New Works, Gleason Fine Art, Portland, August 20–September 20

FOR MORE:
janedahmen.com | Gleason Fine Art, gleasonfineart.com | Powers Gallery (Acton, MA), powersgallery.com

In the Garden #6, 2012, acrylic, ink, and crayon on wood panel, 10″ x 10″
View of the River in Springtime (triptych), 2012, acrylic on panel, 60″ x 90″

Art Collector Maine, artcollectormaine.com

LUC DEMERS

“When we enter a dark room we must allow our eyes to adjust to the darkness, and sometimes even then we are unable to see what is there or where we are. Astronomers use photography to gather ancient light from stars, recording what little information they can to try to make sense of our place in the universe.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Luc Demers, Rose Contemporary, November–December

FOR MORE:
lucdemers.com | Rose Contemporary, rosecontemporary.com

Moonlit, 2013, archival inkjet print, 24″ x 20″
Galileo Polaroid, 2010, Polaroid photograph, 5″ x 4″

GABRIELLA D’ITALIA

“I use labor-intensive processes of repetition and accumulation to explore similarity and difference: the impossibility of discrete objects, of singularity, transformation through repetition, et cetera. I think a lot about increments, about elaborate specificity, which surfaces in different forms in my work, but it all seems like part of the same project to me, the same truth.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Gabriella D’Italia: Land Frames, Asymmetrick Arts, April
Gabriella D’Italia, Rose Contemporary, 2014

FOR MORE:
gabrielladitalia.com | Rose Contemporary, rosecontemporary.com

Underpinning, 2011, screen-printed, quilted, hand-pleated cotton, 34″ x 84″ x 1″
Landscape 3, 2012, vellum, ink, and paint on board, 21″ x 44″

LOIS DODD

“My subjects vary with the seasons. I spend the summers in Maine, where I am part of a life-drawing group and work from the figure. But I mostly paint the landscape, simply because I am in it. In the winter I go to Blairstown in New Jersey, and there I sometimes paint from the window.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Significant Works, Caldbeck Gallery, May 24–July 6

FOR MORE:
Caldbeck Gallery, caldbeck.com | Alexandre Gallery (New York), alexandregallery.com

Rainy Window, 2011, oil on Masonite, 18.75″ x 13″. Courtesy Alexandre Gallery
Nude with Bicycle, 2010, oil on panel, 11.25″ x 10.5″. Courtesy Caldbeck Gallery

DAVID C. DRISKELL

“Art is as much a vital part of my lifestyle as all other experiences that have made me a particular individual. I exercise certain value judgments each time I choose one subject over another when painting. Yet somehow, these choices, regardless of how abstracted they may seem, always tell the viewer something about my experiences and my culture.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
David Driskell, Gallery Ami-Kanoko (Osaka, Japan), April
David Driskell, Greenhut Galleries, August 1–31

FOR MORE:
Greenhut Galleries, greenhutgalleries.com

Brown Mask, 2012, woodcut, 8.5″ x 6.75″
The Pet, 2011, collage and mixed media, 12″ x 11″

KATHLEEN FLORANCE

“The drawing process requires intense observation and thinking. That accumulation of knowledge then pushes me to expression through the freedom of color and line, letting the art take me where it needs to go. I often work figurative and abstractive pieces simultaneously. It is the underlying concepts that drive the cohesiveness for me.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Pollination: Evolving Miracles, University of Southern Maine, Lewiston, Atrium Gallery, April 19–June 7

FOR MORE:
Caldbeck Gallery, caldbeck.com

Crushed, 2012, lithography crayon and relief ink on Yupo, 67″ x 57″
Bee Spaces #3, 2011, oil, oil stick, charcoal, ink, and collage, 49″ x 44″

HAROLD GARDE

“I strive for a balance of control and spontaneity. The strappos are smaller than my paintings and as dry images they can be altered prior to transfer. I enjoy the challenge that for strappos the first marks on the glass plate remain visible, whereas in painting the final ones dominate. There’s also the difference of surface, slick versus painterly, that excites me.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Harold Garde, New Works, Harbor Square Gallery, June
Cellardoor Winery, June
Harold Garde, Maine Jewish Museum, September

FOR MORE:
haroldgarde.com | Harbor Square Gallery, harborsquaregallery.com |
Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, courthousegallery.com

Sculptor Studio, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 44″ x 55″
Sighting, Low Tide, 2012, strappo monotype on paper, 8″ x 10″

KAREN GELARDI

“I use observational drawings, typically nature studies, as starting points for testing systems of resiliency. I redraw them, collage them, print them on fabric, group them, or combine them into constructions. Components can be assembled into new works but still remain physically separate objects, or they can become a single new work, but the original spirit remains.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Space Gallery, April–May
Karen Gelardi, New Works, Perimeter Gallery, spring 2014

FOR MORE:
karengelardi.com | Space Gallery, space538.org

Variable Component Assembly No. 5, 2007, fabric, ink, cotton insulation,
and nylon thread, 3″ x 2″ x 2″
Component Assembly with Pine Needles, 2012, paper, ink, toner, chipboard,
and wheat paste, 48″ x 64″ x 6″

ALISON GOODWIN

“I am a designer first and a painter second. When composing, I think about space and breaking it down. I allow myself to experience this process by creating simple geometric shapes with charcoal and graphite. Returning to this ‘drawing board’ method of bare bones and mechanics has inspired me to see color and composition in a new light.”

FOR MORE:
alisongoodwin.com | Greenhut Galleries, greenhutgalleries.com

Tumbling, 2011, charcoal and graphite on paper, 23″ x 23″
Roots and Traffic, 2012, acrylic, oil bar, and oil pastel on paper, 23″ x 23″

ELLEN GRANTER

“My bird paintings and landscapes have their own internal forces, but they share a need to be simple and have an overall sense of vastness. Shapes in nature follow patterns with a rhythm created by the shape itself and the space that surrounds it. The impulse to use the shapes and spaces as a vehicle for color is the same in all my work.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Choice, Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture, June 8–July 4
Maine As They See It, Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture, July 27–August 8
New Work, Left Bank Gallery (Wellfleet, MA), July 27–August 9
Cellardoor Winery, September

FOR MORE:
ellengranter.com | Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture, maine-art.com

Interstice, 2012, oil on panel, 12″ x 12″
Blue Square Sparrows, 2012, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 30″ x 30″

ANNA HEPLER

“My best work happens serendipitously, avoiding allegiance with dimension and material, and landing somewhere uncertain. I don’t know whether my sculptures exist as subjects for still lifes or as objects unto themselves. I am less interested in a static outcome than preserving a sense of motion in my process.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Anna Hepler and Andrea Sulzer, ICON Contemporary Art, May
Anna Hepler, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, June

FOR MORE:
annahepler.com | ICON Contemporary Art

Untitled forms (Roswell), 2011, ceramic, 5″ diam.
Untitled (AAR March 3), 2010, paper on board, 12″ x 10″

HILARY IRONS

“My work is influenced by the potential relationship between landscape painting and geometrical abstraction, inspired by the art of 1920s Russia. I work in series, and when these become larger, the work undergoes natural transformations. The results can look very different even when the inspiration and aesthetic preoccupations are the same.”

FOR MORE:
hilaryirons.com | Rose Contemporary, rosecontemporary.com

Every Little Stone, 2012, acrylic and marble dust on wood panel, 8″ x 8″
Still-Life 2, 2012, gouache and graphite on paper, 16″ x 12″

WILLIAM IRVINE

“I paint still lifes, seascapes, boats and harbors, and the houses of people who make their living from the sea. All these categories are expressions of a personal mythology. I grew up by the sea, in Scotland, and moved to the Maine coast, the Atlantic being a lifelong mentor. I am inspired by our relationship to the ocean.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, June 26–July 21
The Untold Story, Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, September 15–October 20

FOR MORE:
billirvine.com | George Marshall Store Gallery, georgemarshallstoregallery.com | Greenhut Galleries, greenhutgalleries.com | Gleason Fine Art, gleasonfineart.com | Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, courthousegallery.com

Fisherman’s Moon, 2012, oil on canvas, 34″ x 36″
Near Oban, 2011, oil on board, 24″ x 30″

RICHARD KEEN

“My studio is a laboratory for conducting experiments on my daily experiences of my surroundings. I view multiple modes of creation as complementary. Working in various mediums, on several works of art at once and within different bodies simultaneously, helps me avoid ‘artist’s block.’ It also provides constant learning opportunities and keeps me energized.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Surface, Light, Structure: F. Hynes, R. Keen, L. Salmi, Elizabeth Moss Galleries, June 6–July 21

FOR MORE:
richardkeenstudio.com | Elizabeth Moss Galleries, elizabethmossgalleries.com |
George Marshall Store Gallery, georgemarshallstoregallery.com |
Coleman Burke Gallery, colemanburke.com

Sea Geometry 171, 2012, oil and encaustic on panel, 24″ x 24″
Inverted Rabbet, 2010, Styrofoam, plaster, wood, Bondo, and spray enamel, 40″ x 21″ x 3″

SCOTT KELLEY

“I make one painting at a time, and sometimes that leads to a whole group. None of this is by design—it just happens that way. Every painting has to be able to exist individually, but seen together—if you are lucky—some become part of a greater whole, a believable world, even if only for a few minutes.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Scott Kelley: The Children’s Book about Whales, Dowling Walsh Gallery, May 2014

FOR MORE:
scottkelleystudio.tumblr.com | Dowling Walsh Gallery, dowlingwalsh.com

Great Blue Heron on the Shores of Monhegan, 2010, watercolor and gouache on paper, 40″ x 30″
Avery and Nine Patented Harpoons, 2012, watercolor and gouache on paper, 30″ x 40″

JOHN KNIGHT

“My wildflower paintings start with a centrally placed plant. I then orchestrate a landscape around it, letting the plant interact with its surroundings. My paintings of cartoonists are begun from a photo of the artist. I then mix in samples of their drawings and their text. Both subjects leave open how the finished composition will resolve itself.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Silent Spring: An Enduring Legacy, George Marshall Store Gallery, summer

FOR MORE:
johnardenknight.com | Elizabeth Moss Galleries, elizabethmossgalleries.com | Caldbeck Gallery, caldbeck.com

Feverfew Drawing, 2012, acrylic and graphite on Mylar, 36″ x 30″
Art Spiegelman, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 40″ x 30″

MICHAEL KOLSTER

“I always work on several disparate projects simultaneously. I like rubbing new ideas against older, more established ways of working. The payoff is discovering over time common threads that unwittingly connect different endeavors, which for me is a source of hope.”

FOR MORE:
michaelkolster.com

Cove, Rice Center, Charles City County, James River, VA, 2012, two ambrotypes, 9¾” x 7¾” ea.
Ribbon Pair #1 (2E2r/2E7f) (front view), 2012, two ambrotypes and Lexan, 9¾ ” x 7¾” x 2″

FREDERICK LYNCH

“My work is the result of subtle but constant changes from piece to piece, day to day. In time, distinctions between different shapes and forms evolve, from minuscule to obvious. Various problems of color, space, or surface require solutions that entail more depth, texture, and materials. Different media allow me to sustain and extend my interests in these areas.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
ICON Contemporary Art, summer

FOR MORE:
fredericklynch.com | ICON Contemporary Art | Littlefield Gallery, littlefieldgallery.com | George Marshall Store Gallery, georgemarshallstoregallery.com

Capriccio #11 (Eddy), 2012, oil, enamel, and aluminum on MDF, 15″ x 12″ x 1.5″
Division Piece #52 (Reliquary), 2012, oil, enamel, and glass on MDF, 11″ x 7″ x 4″

SUSAN MACDOUGALL

“My work is a visual metaphor for my emotional life. I use multiple approaches because I cannot focus on one exclusively. This also allows me to get some distance from a path that might be too hard and to get closer to another when something resonates. I am, as well, a photographer who likes to get her hands dirty.”

FOR MORE:
susanmacdougall.com | George Marshall Store Gallery,
georgemarshallstoregallery.com

SinkRockEggYolks, 2012, archival digital Image, 11.25″ x 17.75″
Torso IIv1, 2012, drawing on archival digital image, 26″ x 23″

ALAN MAGEE

“Since 1987 I have been working, intermittently, on a series of drawings, monotypes, collages, and sculpture addressing violence and war, subjects that seemed beyond the reach of my meditative realism. As the first Gulf War approached—during the summer of 1990—the focus of this work shifted from images of accusation to expressions of empathy.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Go Figure Invitational Show, Greenhut Galleries, April 4–27
Open Studio, Cushing, August 3 and 4

FOR MORE:
alanmagee.com | Dowling Walsh Gallery, dowlingwalsh.com | Greenhut Galleries, greenhutgalleries.com | Forum Gallery (New York and Los Angeles), forumgallery.com

The Sanctuary, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 40″ x 60″
Homecoming, 2010, monotype with watercolor and black pencil, 14″ x 11″

K. MIN

“Creating in diverging ways allows me to do anything. My work covers a wide emotional range but all under the umbrella of beauty—pure beauty, which is more descriptive, like light patches on walls and shadows on snowy houses, and ugly beauty, which is more psychologically disturbing and includes moldy bread and dead bugs. Sometimes these qualities get mixed.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Yeemock Gallery (Seoul), October 23–November 22

FOR MORE:
Caldbeck Gallery, caldbeck.com

Early Morning in Sunnyside, 2011, oil on canvas, 16″ x 20″
Summer #8, 2012, hard pastel on paper, 10″ x 11.5″

ED NADEAU

“Using different subjects as catalysts for my work is inspirational and keeps it fresh. The land, manmade structures, portraiture, art history, politics, humorous situations, current events, my heritage, and just about any other visually interesting scenario is fair game. I love the challenge and exhilaration of being eclectic. My job is to convince the viewer of the subject’s believability.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
The Untold Story, Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, September 15–October 20

FOR MORE:
ednadeau.com | Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, courthousegallery.com

The Verge (Redux), 2012, oil on panel, 48″ x 36″
Driftwood Man Longing for the Sea, 2012, charcoal on paper, 48″ x 36″

DUANE PALUSKA

“I’m happy when something exists at the end of the day that wasn’t there at the beginning. It could be a painting, a piece of furniture, a sculpture, a packing case. If hands and heart and head have joined to make that thing just what it needs to be, and if there’s some magic in it, all the better.”

FOR MORE:
June Fitzpatrick Gallery, junefitzpatrickgallery.com |
ICON Contemporary Art

Flame, 2012, painted wood, 15″ x 12″ x 11″
Black Moon, 2012, acrylic, canvas, and wood, 20″ x 22″ x 1.25″

STEPHEN PORTER

“I am interested in geometric shapes arranged in ordered configurations and the harmony created by these relationships. I use many techniques and a variety of materials, including stainless steel, wood, and, since moving to Maine, granite. The differences in approach are determined by the possibilities and limitations of the material.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
June LaCombe Sculpture, May 25–June 23
Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, May 29–June 23

FOR MORE:
stephenporterstudio.com | Greenhut Galleries, greenhutgalleries.com | Courthouse Gallery Fine Art, courthousegallery.com | Turtle Gallery, turtlegallery.com |
Carver Hill Gallery, carverhillgallery.com

Circle 37, 2000, beech, 30″ x 18″ x 18″
Black Circle 1, 2008, granite and stainless steel, 17″ x 21″ x 20″

BEN POTTER

“I work in two different areas: landscape-inflected abstraction and figurative representations of friends and family. I love the sometimes rarefied pleasures derived from abstraction and the possibilities it presents, but I also enjoy the quick hit of a representational image. These endeavors intertwine as figures enter and exit the landscape.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Ben Potter, Coleman Burke Gallery (Portland), April 5–May 31

FOR MORE:
benpotter.net

Foam, 2012, cut plywood and shims, 4′ x 8′ x 2′
Tangled, 2012, milk on paper, 18″ x 15″

DEBORAH RANDALL

“For my landscapes I usually work from memory and intuition and hope to evoke the feeling of being present by communicating the quality of light, color, and vastness of space. My other work is more content driven. Starting with an idea from memory and experience, I develop narrative images that are open-ended so that multiple meanings are possible.”

FOR MORE:
Deborah Randall Fine Art, deborahrandall.com | Elizabeth Moss Galleries, elizabethmossgalleries.com | Rose Contemporary, rosecontemporary.com |
Camden Falls Gallery, camdenfallsgallery.com

Rain, 2008, oil on canvas, 50″ x 60″
Push & Pull, 2008, ink and casein on paper, 11″ x 15″

NORIKO SAKANISHI

“I view my constructions as containers of an inner, nonreligious spirit. The collages have more to do with my personal history, combining bits of paintings, drawings, found materials, and fabric, some from my mother’s kimonos. Both types of work are largely based in geometric relationships. I like a sense of mystery to remain a big part of my work.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Maine Women Pioneers III: Dirigo, University of New England Art Gallery,
May 22–July 21

FOR MORE:
June Fitzpatrick Gallery, junefitzpatrickgallery.com | George Marshall Store Gallery, georgemarshallstoregallery.com | Mast Cove Galleries, mastcove.com

Confidence, 2012, acrylic and mixed media, 12″ x 13.5″ x 3.5″
Respite, 2011, acrylic and mixed media collage, 10″ x 10″

MURAD SAYEN

“I have always worked in a variety of media, including writing, photography, painting, and sculpture. These are different channels of expression for my creative urge to answer the ultimate question, Why are we here? The history of human creativity shows that the manner of that search is unimportant. What matters is the content and feelings it conveys.”

FOR MORE:
murad-sayen.artistwebsites.com | Mast Cove Galleries,
mastcove.com | Lyceum Gallery, lyceumgallery.com |
Harvest Gold Gallery, harvestgoldgallery.com

Shaker Interior No. 3, 2010, oil on panel, 36″ x 36″
Lift and Jack Here, 2005, digital photograph, giclée print, 20″ x 20″

CLAIRE SEIDL

“I paint without preconceptions, starting with a blank canvas. However, when I photograph I can see what my camera is pointing at, know if it is day or night, and know for how long I will expose the film. The parallel between the mediums occurs in the darkroom, where I make choices not unlike the ones made on canvas.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
I-95 Triennial, University of Maine Museum of Art, April 5–June 8
Counterpoint: Claire Seidl and Duncan Hewitt, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, May 25–July 4

FOR MORE:
claireseidl.com | ICON Contemporary Art

Girl (Superimposed), 2011, silver gelatin, selenium toned photograph, 16″ x 13.5″
Kingdom Come, 2010, oil on linen, 44″ x 32″

AARON T STEPHAN

“Each work that I make is an exploration, a questioning, or a ‘what if.’ A variety of materials and methods help approaching the same fundamental core issues from different vantage points. Exactly what these issues are is difficult to say—but throughout a lifetime of exploration I hope to get a few steps closer to finding out.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Aaron T Stephan: Paths, Coleman Burke Gallery, April 3–May 25
Aaron T Stephan: Second-Hand Utopias, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum (Lincoln, MA), summer
Aaron T Stephan, Samsøn (Boston, MA), September

FOR MORE:
aarontstephan.com | Aucocisco Galleries, aucocisco.com

An Awkward Meeting of Painting and Sculpture, 2012, mixed media, 32″ x 36″ x 18″
Untitled (Modernist Splat) #3, 2012, collage on paper, 24″ x 24″

ANDREA SULZER

“My impulse to switch between two and three dimensions comes from a physical feeling of wanting to form something, holding it, moving an image around in a different way. Even when drawing, I often look at it obliquely as if trying to see behind it. Pushing this further into real space is a relatively new development for me.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Andrea Sulzer and Anna Hepler, ICON Contemporary Art, May

FOR MORE:
ICON Contemporary Art

Crown, 2010, colored pencil on paper, 30″ x 50.5″
Untitled, 2012, charcoal, oil-based ink, thread, and paper, 12″ x 12″ x 3″

ANNA SWEETEN

“My landscape paintings start in spontaneous response to what my eyes see—the subject chooses me. From my sketches, I work in the studio to re-create my initial vision. When painting still lifes, the opposite applies. I spend time choosing and arranging objects, waiting for the light to change, until the composition I want to paint comes together.”

FOR MORE:
annasweeten.com | Harbor Square Gallery,
harborsquaregallery.com

Stone on Stone, 2009, acrylic on panel, 31″ x 39″
Winter Windowsill, 2010, egg tempera on panel, 12″ x 14″

JOYCE TENNESON

“I usually spend several years on individual projects that seem to flow effortlessly from my unconscious. When I feel I have explored a project as far as I can, I publish the images as a book (16 so far), which brings closure and frees me to explore new interests. Although different, the books are related—they are all autobiographical.”

FOR MORE:
tenneson.com | Dowling Walsh Gallery, dowlingwalsh.com

Nadya, 1999, archival pigment print, 24″ x 20″
Tree in Fog, 2011, mixed media with gold leaf, 24″ x 20″

MAT THORNE

“My work is tied directly to my state of mind although it gets filtered through my interests and inspirations and gains a broader context. There is a clear shift in emotions between series: the calm, numb happiness of ‘Problems & Solutions’ and the anger and intensity of the ‘Mortals.’ There is both chaos and a desire for serenity.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Mentor: 40 Photographers, 40 Years, Center for Maine
Contemporary Art, July 27–September 22

FOR MORE:
mat-thorne.com | Asymmetrick Arts, asymmetrickarts.com

Skunk in Whisky and Honey, 2008, c-print, 4.5″ diam.
Cowboy, 2010, archival pigment print, 24″ x 36″

ERIK WEISENBURGER

“While the method I use in painting has remained constant for years, I do like to mix it up by changing perspectives, as well as the shape and size of the panels I work on. Like most visual people I have a magpie interest in lots of varying forms and subjects; to focus on just one would be stifling.”

UPCOMING SHOW:
Rose Contemporary, March–April

FOR MORE:
erikweisenburger.com | Rose Contemporary, rosecontemporary.com

Lost Limb, 2010, oil on panel, 12″ diam.
Lunch with Moses, 2012, oil on panel, 15″ x 15″

SHOSHANNAH WHITE

“I work in a number of photo-based media and disciplines, but always look for the story beneath the surface. While I take a more objective approach to the assignment work, it often connects me with people, issues, or situations that are outside of my normal experience and usually gives my personal work a new edge.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Water’s Edge, Grand Manan Art Gallery (Castalia, New Brunswick), July–August
Install, Corey Daniels Gallery, August–September
Ghost Weir, Foc’sle (Provincetown, MA), August–September

FOR MORE:
shoshannahwhite.com | Rose Contemporary, rosecontemporary.com | Corey Daniels Gallery, coreydanielsgallery.com

A Death in the Family, Wall Street Journal, 2008, photograph online and newsprint, 6″ x 6″
Sea Rocks, 2011, photograph with encaustic, 36″ x 36″

DAVID WITBECK

“Everything I paint is invented and iconic, rather than descriptive. To expand my artistic vocabulary, I started drawing nudes from observation. I still play with shapes, simplify, and exaggerate, but those decisions are informed spontaneously by what I’m seeing. Both kinds of works are bold, direct, humorous or even irreverent. I plan on painting the nudes someday soon.”

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Cellardoor Winery, May
Choice, Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture, June 8–July 4
Maine As They See It, Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture, July 27–August 8
David Witbeck, New Works, Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture, August 10–September 2

FOR MORE:
witbeck.com | Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture, maine-art.com | Gleason Fine Art, gleasonfineart.com

Devon and Wyatt, 2012, oil on canvas, 30″ x 30″
Untitled Nude, 2012, black chalk and wax medium on paper, 18″ x 24″