State of mind Out West

“Today” (oil on panel), by Susan Strauss, in her show “Western Painting,’’ at Periphery Space @ Paper Nautilus, Providence.

The gallery says:

“Strauss describes these as pivotal paintings as they were influenced by a change of place but also a state of mind brought about by the crisis of politics and COVID. Strauss traveled to northern Arizona to paint in the winter of 2019-2020 and stayed Out West through most of 2021 so far. Starting with daily painting, direct observation and walks through the landscape, she began working on a series of abstract paintings. Book sized; the small landscapes help you travel to the high desert. The larger works connect the elemental immediacy of the Western landscape and the timelessness of Eastern cosmology represented by the mandala.’’

Strauss has lived and maintained her studio in Westport, MA since 2005 and is part of the South Coast Artists open studio community and the Art Drive.  She is a founding member of the Brickbottom Artists Building in Boston and has received grants from Mass Arts Lottery and Public Works RI. Her work has been exhibited in many group and solo shows throughout the New England area including Gallery at 4, Tiverton, RI, Dedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport, MA, Gallery NAGA, Boston, MA, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI, New Bedford Art Museum, New Bedford, MA, Tufts University, UMass Boston, Boston University, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY and Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY.

For more information about the show visit http://www.peripheryspace.com  

to learn more about artist visit her website and social media 

https://www.susanstrausspainting.com

Instagram   @susanstrausspainting

Where we’re going

Work of Marcella Green in her show “Points of Impermanence,’’ through June 20 at Periphery Space @ Paper Nautilus, Providence

The gallery writes:

“In this thought-provoking show, Marcella Green uses photographs and text to produce a visual narrative that explores her thoughts about death. The work is contemplative, melancholy and transformative. The result of Green’s meditations is usually in the form of a book or zine, and she has produced several books as artworks; Before Waking and As of Late Marcella Green (published by Oranbeg Press, 2018) are the most recent indexes. For this show, she will use the wall as if it were pages to display text and photographs and, in doing so, tell a story about the power of creativity and a life revealed through photographs as artifacts.

Liminality and simultaneity

“Consumed Structure With Road III,’’ by Denny Moers, in his monoprint show “Within a Liminal Space,’’ at Periphery Space @ Paper Nautilus, Providence, through Nov. 1.

The gallery says:

“‘Within a Liminal Space’ explores the tension between the known and the unknown. From the Latin root limen, meaning threshold, liminal is a transitional place separating the familiar from the unrecognizable. This area can be uncomfortable for many, but it is an area that artists know intimately. Whereas some photographers might anxiously move the paper in the chemical bath, anticipating the images they think will appear, Moers thrives in this space, embracing the process, accepting the uncertainty.

“Looking at Moers's photographs as liminality, another word comes to mind – simultaneity. The hazy, mirage-like images in contrast with a hard edge of color remind me of a past I can't quite bring into focus and a future that is sharply taking shape. He shows us a road that shines slick with color in the foreground while the trees and barn in the background are seen in black and white as nature envelopes them. These images are intriguing and mysterious, full of meaning, waiting to be understood.’’

Self-portraiture in the pandemic

From Ashley Pelletier’s show “Reflections,’’ at Periphery Space @ Paper Nautilus, Wayland Square, Providence. through Aug. 15.

The gallery says:

“Because of the coronavirus pandemic, we have all had to figure out how to deal with feelings of stress that isolation has caused. For many artists, time in the studio has been a way to cope. Pelletier found that creating work during this time has expanded her practice of self-portraiture. The 14 paintings in “Reflections’’ show her process as it starts with the exterior of the body and goes to the interior — from the representational to the abstract.’’

Staring at 'nonspectacular' flora

“Inside/Outside’’ (oil on canvas) , by Maria Napolitano, in her March 2-May 3 show “Garden Fragments,’’ at Periphery Space at Paper Nautilus, Providence. She explains:

“The work in this show invites you to stop and take a closer look at the ordinary and non-spectacular flora that surround most of our lives. To do this, I mix up painterly, cartoony and diagrammatic approaches which I use to draw attention to the fragile relationship we have with our ecosystem. Whether it be based on the dried remnants of last year’s garden or visual memories I collect from a winter walk in the park, I combine observation and imagination to provide an insight into my everyday interaction with nature. “

'Tiny ecosystems'

From painter James Sundquist’s show “Living Nature’’ at Paper Nautilus, Wayland Square, Providence, through Dec. 1. He says: “The motifs for the work came out of small places, the little patches of grass and vegetation that become a world and ecosystem unto themselves through persistent observation. These tiny ecosystems reveal their layers through persistent looking, and a poetics of space comes to life.

“The larger pieces in this show are made in the studio using some of the spatial motifs and gestures generated in the smaller works. The result is, like a poem, the amplification of the order and beauty of the natural world.’’

Mount Mystery

'Untitled." (oil paint and wood), by Matt Chinian, in the "Back Story'' show at Periphery Space Gallery, Providence, Dec. 9-23.

Siri knows all

"What Can Siri Answer?'' (epoxy clay. rhinestones, screw, nail, L-shaped key wrench and barrel nut!),  by Heesun Shin, in the nine-woman show "Up-Root,'' at Periphery Space Gallery, Providence, through Nov. 18. The gallery says:

"Nine women artists speak to their individual cultural backgrounds. ...Many of the works are installations and even with nine artists the work is so tightly curated that they speak to each other.  There is a strong narrative running through each artists body of work that speaks to traditions and belief systems one is brought up with or introduced to later.  The show is very tactile ....'

Further, "Becoming American is often accompanied by a process of assimilation, particularly for second-generation immigrants, when a need to feel connected in a new community causes some to abandon ancestral traditions. At a time of cultural unrest and spiritual disconnection in America, this exhibition presents artists who embody, perpetuate and reclaim the cultures, ceremonies and rituals of their ancestors as a strategy for wholeness.''

Background family identities and American ones

"Reliquias'' (archival pigment print), by Tori Purcell, in the "Up-Root'' show at Periphery Space gallery, Pawtucket, R.I., Oct. 21-Nov. 18. The nine-person show explores in various media the gaps between their family ethnic and national heritages and their identities as Americans.

Our 'unruly parts'

Work by Rhode Island-based painter Kim Salinas Silva in show "Stop Me!,'' at Periphery Space gallery, Pawtucket, R.I,, through Aug. 12. She says her work is "profoundly influenced'' by the writings of Cart Jung, the Swiss psychologist and Freud rival. "His view that humankind cannot be healthy until we embrace our shadow, or the darker, more unruly parts of ourselves, has become crucial to my work.''

Poetical Abstract Expressionism

From the show "The flowers not here yet/the flowers gone,'' the recent paintings of the Vermont-based poet Peter Richards. The show runs June 2-10 at Periphery Space, in Pawtucket, R.I.

Cool summer wear

"Twisted Torso'' (gouache on paper), by Laura Watt, in the show "Grids,'' at Periphery Space gallery, Pawtucket, R.I., April 29-May 27.

The title and subject of the show comes from the 1979 essay "Grids,'' by Rosalind Krauss. The show shows the work of six artists fascinated with the grids. They explore pattern, repetition and geometry in nature and everyday life.