A reception for all of the current exhibitions at Arts + Literature Laboratory will be held on Friday, November 22, 2024 from 5:30pm–8:00pm, with remarks from Bridge Work artists Issis Macias and Jessica M. Gutiérrez (details below). Other featured artists include Matthew Braunginn, Nastia Craig, Karen Laudon. Free admission.
Ethereal Spaces by Issis Macias showcases her intuitive abstract paintings, which feature dynamic forms, vibrant colors, and unexpected markings. The artist uses unconventional materials like large raw canvases and steel grommets, and she applies overlapping layers of acrylics and pastels. Macias' artistic process is informed by her identity as a woman and daughter of Mexican immigrants, as well as her personal experiences. Through her work, she invites viewers to connect with their own emotions and memories and experience a sense of healing and transformation.
Gifts from the Dark by Jessica M. Gutiérrez explores identity and healing through Gutiérrez’s personal history, using a mixture of colorful watercolors and mixed media collages. In her art, Gutiérrez blends her experiences as an artist and a therapist, drawing on her trauma healing background to create "transformational portals" that illuminate her inner world. Gutiérrez's art often feels joyful and vibrant, even when exploring challenging themes like generational trauma. The exhibition showcases colorful, shadowy landscapes and floral configurations, reflecting moments of clarity, power, and ongoing processes. Through her artwork, Gutiérrez aims to bring hidden gifts from the past into the present.
- Macias will deliver a Spanish-language artist talk at 5:30pm in the first floor performance gallery.
- Macias and Gutiérrez will deliver English-language artist talks starting approximately 6:30pm in the first floor performance gallery.
The other featured artists will also be in attendance to welcome visitors to their exhibitions.
Perceptual Arrangements and Beat Loops by Matthew Braunginn (first floor project space) explores the relationship between sound, emotion, and lived experiences. The paintings, characterized by hard edges, blends, shades, and depths of color, aim to communicate the artist's perceptions of existence, influenced by his autism diagnosis, autoimmune disorder, and the world around him. Braunginn's pieces invite viewers to experience the art in their own unique way, similar to how a rhythm or beat loop can evoke different feelings and reflections.
A Simple Thought by Nastia Craig (second floor mezzanine) challenges the concept of simplicity, exploring the complexity beneath seemingly straightforward thoughts and emotions. Craig's artwork utilizes layers of elements, textures, and movements to reflect the intricate and ever-shifting nature of human experiences. The exhibition encourages viewers to consider how simple ideas can hold profound meanings and to examine the connection between conscious and subconscious experiences. Craig's work also reflects her personal journey and explores themes of self-identity and cultural origin. Craig is known for her abstract painting and collage, and uses a variety of materials and techniques.
Rupture by Karen Laudon (third floor project space) explores the tension between dualities: facade/truth, construction/destruction, beauty/ugliness, death/renewal, and flatness/dimensionality. Laudon's art engages with these dualities as a way of processing frustration and despair with contemporary society. Using an older series of paintings called Seven Sorrows, she physically smashed the panels with hammers and weights. Then, working from the back of the panels, she pressed encaustic through to the other side where it interacted with painted imagery of natural elements. The resulting artwork, which Laudon refers to as "wounded," functions as a metaphor for both personal and societal struggles. The artist invites viewers to contemplate whether these images represent death and destruction or growth and rebirth.
