CALADAN GALLERY
“TRANSMORPHING – THE ACT OF CHANGE”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT: Marjorie Kaye
@Caladan Gallery
(617) 838-8929
CALADAN GALLERY presents an on-line exhibition of 23 national and international artists entitled “TRANS-MORPHING: THE ACT OF CHANGE”. The very nature of life suggests energy in constant flux; movement in an everlasting dance of cause and effect. Nature presents unpredictability wrapped in repeating cycles. It is the push and pull, the contrast between rest and movement, predictability and the unexpected, that preps the stage for transformation on either a collective or personal level. Some aspects of transformation are rooted in ancient rites, reminiscent of shamanic journeys; some are born of irony, and seek to transcend the mind’s repetitive habit of cause and effect; some simply transform the world of physical causation, opening the envelope into a region of possibility. There are certain truths to the universe, certain responses and visual stimuli are common, and are seldom processed by ourselves consciously – these expectations are ripped apart in this exhibition, and a place full of variables is encouraged to present itself.
This exhibition will be on-line at http://www.caladangallery.com from February 1 – 28, 2010. For more information, please call (617) 838-8929 or email us at director@caladangallery.com.
MORE ABOUT SOME OF THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Solo Exhibition Award Winner Kalliope Amorphous (New York, NY) writes: “I am an artist working exclusively with the self portrait photograph. These three images are from my most recent series, titled “Valkyrie” which explores the metamorphosis of woman into bird. It was difficult to pick three images, since the series of 12 photos follows the progression of the “possession” and ultimately the transformation of the female form into a bird. I have chosen three images which I think encapsulate the three stages…”
From large scale to that which can be held in the palm of the hand, Andy Bievenue (Belleville, IL) transforms the everyday into icons. The objects in these works transcend the utilitarianism that created them to become personified. They emit the persona of those who are lost, searching; or as in the case of “Smaller Than We Expected”, the essence of an overseer and protector. Inanimate object transforms into personal iconography, a quality of the unknown injected, realism fading into potentiality.
Peter Chamberlain (Honolulu, HI) states of his digital media pieces: “These prints are preliminary experiments in a series based on a specific process; physically construct a sculptural structure, photo-document the 3D object, digitize and manipulate in Photoshop to transform into a modulated 2D image that signifies a new and unique 3D structure. These particular works began with a traditional mortise and tenon covered bridge I helped my brother construct near his home in the Adirondacks.”
Caberbe Joseph (Winter Park, FL) depicts the transformation of woman from victim to power within the confines of these three individual photographs. In “No More” and “Please Don’t Cry”, the women are marked, their vulnerabilities on the surface, victimization a danger. One shifts to the piece entitled “Power”, a woman standing strong. Naked does not necessarily evoke a sense of vulnerability, as this woman transcends all to appear as she is, her strength emitted from the aura of her inner world.
Gallery Member Elizabeth Kellogg (Beverly, MA) shifts the focal point within these pieces from one end to another. The doll-like figures become lost in a confused, veiled miasma of subconscious ether. However, upon further viewing, the veils lift and the figures are revealed, at once both vulnerable and defiant. The transformation occurs within the image itself, and we are left with a mirror of our own unknown emotional associations.
Photographs by Russ Osterweil (Oakland, CA) illustrate that as in nature, the man-made is subject to the transformation that occurs from time. As natural substances are subject to the rain, wind, and other catalysts, so are the structures born of the mind and hand of the human architect and engineer. There is an added element to consider, also, which is the trends that illustrate the day, which are also born from necessity, however much they are veiled in aesthetics and human consciousness. So that when an area, that is, the essence of a block of housing, a bridge, a community is transformed, there are a myriad of reasons behind it. Some are more obvious, such as a storm, earthquake, etc. But other transformations arise from an individual’s idea or vision. Destruction, construction – all is a circular motion, as unpredictable and predictable as the natural world.
Mare Vaccaro (New York, NY) states: “My work investigates the deconstructed female form and its relationship to femininity, beauty and empty adornment. I have alopecia universalis, which is a genetic miscoded medical condition that renders my body completely hairless. In the absence of a created persona I am a blank canvas. I use this blank deconstructed form to explore the “created” selfdesigned expression that assimilates societal expectations of femininity. This “deconstructed self” depicts the female form without defined beauty or persona. The pressure to adorn oneself according to the standard of femininity leads to the creation of persona that masks the true self and manipulates the world into believing that what it sees is real when it is not. I am using the deconstructed female form to question what is real, what is persona, and whether femininity can be redefined.”
COMPLETE LIST OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: “TRANS-MORPHING: THE ACT OF
CHANGE”
Kalliope Amorphous, New York, NY Solo Exhibition Award Winner – Photography
Andy Bievenue, Belleville, ILSolo Exhibition Award Winner Photography
Peter Chamberlain, Honolulu, HI Returning Artist Digital Media
John Chwekun, La Mesa, CA Mixed Media Sculpture
Michael Coakes, Park Ridge, IL Digital Mixed Media
Lauren Curtis, Franklin Park, NJ Gallery Member Mixed Media
Lisa DuVernay, Harvest, AL Painting
Luba Grenader, Marblehead, MA Mixed Media
Priscilla Hine, Berkeley, CA Mixed Media
Caberbe Joseph, Winter Park, FL - Photography
Elizabeth Kellogg, Beverly, MA Gallery Member -Mixed Media
Genne Laakso, Ellensburg, WA Mixed Media/Photography
Richard Lund, Long Island City, NY Returning Artist Mixed Media
Amy MacLennan, Hastings, NE Painting
Lauren McSwain, Statesboro, GA Mixed Media
Rosemary Meza-Desplas, Dallas, TX Mixed Media
Hariclia Michailidou, East Elmhurst, NY Digital Media
Mohamed Nabil Shehata Mohamed, Cairo, Egypt Gallery Member Photography
Russ Osterweil, Oakland, CA Photography
Soi Shin, Cambridge, MA Painting/Mixed Media
Tanya, Peabody, MA Mixed Media
Mare Vaccaro, New York, NY Photography
Heather Wilhelm, Costa Mesa, CA Gallery Member Photography
CALADAN GALLERY
Marjorie Kaye, Director
P.O. Box 391939
Cambridge, MA 02139
http://www.caladangallery.com
director@caladangallery.com