Statement
I am an artist, professor and writer living in Hoboken and teaching at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. I exhibit regularly in the New York metropolitan region, principally with Viridian Gallery in Chelsea, and with hob’art, an arts cooperative based in Hoboken. Through my artwork I reflect on nature in landscape and still life, on the grace, whimsy and mystery of the human figure, and on the magic and tensions in relations between people. I like to represent these ideas non-figuratively in abstract compositions.
The work shown here includes oils, encaustics, monotypes and soft pastel drawings. The series of pastel paintings, executed on multimedia paper, explores the use of the human figure as the basis of layered work. It incorporates reverse drawing (also called transfer drawing), a technique often used by Paul Klee. The transfer work in water-based printing ink gives a soft, rich and varied line. I like the freedom and immediacy of drawing, its relation to handwriting, and the endless possibilities of color that soft pastels offer the artist. The rapidity of the drawing process enables me to express a wide range of moods.
My images are often drawn from close observation of my surroundings as the basis of layered work. Sometimes I incorporate reverse or transfer drawing, a technique used by Paul Klee. The transfer work in printing ink gives a soft, rich and varied line. I like the freedom and immediacy of drawing, its relation to handwriting, and the possibility of painting with oil sticks and soft pastels. The rapidity of the process enables me to express a wide range of moods.
Monotype is a technique used to create a single picture by transferring to paper an image that is painted on a metal plate. I work in oils on Arches and Pescia rag papers and vellum, and I also use my own handmade papers as plates. An etching press makes the transfer. The result is a print with painterly textures and surface effects that cannot be obtained by working directly on paper. Some of the prints are further developed with oils, oil pastels, and colored pencils. Monotype offers a unique opportunity to capture the gesture of drawing in an oil painting.
Encaustics, an old Roman technique of painting with colored wax that has been heated to melting point, lends itself to incorporating fabrics and found objects. The surface is naturally waterproof and does not require a glass cover, but it should be kept out of direct sunlight and away from radiators!
I studied art at the Art Students League in New York, starting in Saturday classes for children and continuing, after majoring in studio art at Oberlin College, to train in workshops at Pratt, the Printmaking Council of NJ, Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking, CT Center for Graphic Arts, and elsewhere. I have been drawing from live models since the age of ten, and my paintings reflect my interest in body movement and dance theater, particularly the work of Alwin Nikolais. Many of the women who pose for my drawings and paintings are professional dancers and practitioners of yoga.
Education
Art Students League, New York
Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
Pratt Institute, New York
Workshops at Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking, NJ Printmaking Council, CT Graphic Arts Center, R&F Encaustics
Professional Affiliations
Viridian Artists, New York
NJ Printmaking Council
CT Graphic Arts Center
hob’art, an arts collective
Organization of Independent Artists (OIA)
Collections
Art Students League, New York
Oberlin College, Ohio
Private and corporate collections
Exhibitions
Recent Solo Shows
2016 “The Lie of the Land” Edward Williams Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hackensack, NJ
2015 “Fugues” Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2010 “Sudden Appearances” Viridian Gallery, New York
2010 Princeton University Women’s Studies Gallery, Princeton NJ
2009 “Transcriptions” Port Washington Library, Port Washington, New York
2009 “Post Scriptum” Ceres Gallery, New York
2008 “Inscriptions” Viridian Gallery, New York
2007 ETS Chauncey Conference Center, Princeton, NJ (2-person show)
2006 “Meditations on the Horizon,” Sovereign Bank, Hoboken, NJ
2005 “Moments and Movement” Symposia, Hoboken, NJ
1994 Hoboken Gallery, Hoboken, NJ
1993 Rutgers University, Labor Education Center, New Brunswick, NJ
1991 Bernard’s, Hoboken, NJ
Selected Recent Group Exhibitions
2016 “Life!” hob’art cooperative gallery, Hoboken, NJ
2016 “Similarities & Differences”, Viridian Artists, NYC
2015 “Noir” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2015 “Color, Line, Form” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2015 “The Women in our Lives” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2015 “Pax” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2014 “Viridian Affiliates” Viridian Artists, NYC
2014 “Imagined Realities” 2-person show, hob’art, Hoboken , NJ
2014 “Medium is the Message” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2014 “The Group” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2013 30th Anniversary Show Ceres Gallery, New York
2013 “Before and After” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2013 Holiday Show, Viridian Artists, NYC
2013 3-person show hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2013 “Half Cooked” hob’art, Hoboken, NJ
2013 “Alchemy” Clifton Arts Center & Sculpture Park, Clifton, NJ
2013 “Disconnected Realities” Viridian Artists, NYC
2012 “Viridian Affiliates” Viridian Artists, NYC
2011 ARTWalk, Paterson, NJ
2011 Creative Flow, hob’art@The Paterson Art Walk, Paterson, NJ
2011 Recycled” Hoboken Library, Hoboken, NJ
2011 “Simply Small” Conveyor Arts, Hoboken, NJ
2010 Onward Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2010 “Binaries” Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ
2010 “Dash of Color” Windows on Washington, Hoboken, NJ
2010 “Lost & Found” 33 Washington St., Newark, NJ
2010 “Between the Walls” Jersey City Studio Tour, Jersey City, NJ
2010 “Art 2010” Viridian Gallery, New York
2009 1978 Gallery, Maplewood, NJ
2009 “Towing the line” Ceres Gallery, New York
2009 “Art of War” The Village @ Gureje, Brooklyn, NY
2009 259 First Street Gallery, Hoboken, NJ
2009 1978 Gallery, Maplewood, NJ
2008 “Inscriptions” Viridian Artists, Inc. NYC (solo show)
2008 Viridian Artists at Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
2008 NOHO Artwalk, Broadway, NYC
2008 hob’art steering committee show, Sovereign Bank, Hoboken, NJ
2007 Hoboken Studio Tour, City Hall, Hoboken, NJ
2007 40th Anniversary Show, Viridian Artists, NYC
2007 Square Show, Ceres Gallery, NYC
2007 “La rive gauche” ISO building Jersey City, NJ
2007 “New Art for New Collectors” Viridian Gallery, New York
2007 ETS Chauncey Conference Center, Princeton, NJ (2-person show)
2007 “Scratching the surface” Ceres Gallery, New York
2007 “5 New Gallery Artists” Viridian Gallery, New York
2007 “In the Shadow of Manhattan” JCC Bergen County
2006 “The Square Show,” Ceres Gallery, New York
2006 “In Touch with Art,” City Hall, Hoboken, NJ (curator)
2006 Hoboken Studio Tour, City Hall, Hoboken, NJ
2006 “Meditations on the Horizon,” Sovereign Bank, Hoboken, NJ (solo show)
2006 “In Touch with Art,” Justice William Brennan Courthouse, Jersey City, NJ
2006 hob’art group show at Monroe Arts Center, Hoboken, NJ
2005 OIA group show at New York Law School, New York
2005 Hoboken Studio Tour, City Hall, Hoboken, NJ
2005 hob’art group exhibition at Justice William Brennan Courthouse, Jersey City, NJ
2005 “Moments and Movement” Symposia, Hoboken, NJ (solo show)
2004 “Oblong show” hob’art group show, Symposia, Hoboken, NJ
2004 “Photography Today” Symposia, Hoboken, NJ
2004 hob’art group show at Symposia, Hoboken, NJ
2003 Hoboken Studio Tour, Hoboken, NJ
2003 Digital/Analog, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
2003 hob’art group show, Secaucus Public Library, Secaucus, NJ
2002 Small group exhibit, Hoboken City Hall, Hoboken, NJ
2002 Hoboken Studio Tour, Hoboken, NJ
2002 Connecticut Graphic Arts Center, “Toray” Photoetching, Norwalk, CT
2001 City Without Walls Annual Metro Show, Newark, NJ, traveling to 2002
2001 Hoboken Studio Tours, Hoboken, NJ
2001 NJ Printmaking Council, Somerville, NJ, “Humanity”, traveling to 2002
2001 NJ Printmaking Council, Somerville, NJ, “The Senses”
2000 “Identity” NJ Printmaking Council Juried Members Show, Somerville, NJ
1999 Payne Gallery, Moravian College, 11th Biennial National Print Show
1999 CHC, Englewood, NJ (small group show)
1998 Mélange Gallery, Hoboken, NJ
1997 The Glove Project, Phoenix Gallery, NYC
1996 American Cyanamid, 3 Person Show, Princeton, NJ
1996 Cabrini Gallery, Dobbs Ferry, NY
1996 The Glove Project, NJ Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ
1995 Johnson & Johnson, 3 Person Show, Skillman, NJ
1995 NJ Printmaking Council, 3 Person Show, Somerville, NJ
1995 Cabrini Gallery, Dobbs Ferry, NY
1995 NJ Printmaking Council Juried Members Show, Somerville, NJ
1994 Georgian Court College, Lakewood, NJ
1994 NJ Printmaking Council Juried Members’ Show, Somerville, NJ
1994 Hoboken Gallery, Hoboken, NJ (solo show)
1993 Rutgers University, Labor Education Center, New Brunswick (solo show)
1993 NJ Printmaking Council Members’ Show, Somerville, NJ (honorable mention)
1992 Watchung Arts Center, 4 Person Show, Watchung, NJ
1992 Graphic Eye Gallery, Port Washington, NY
1992 Watchung Arts Center, Small Works Show, Watchung, NJ
1992 Cabrini Gallery, Dobbs Ferry, NY
1991 Bernard’s, Hoboken, NJ (solo show)
1989 Centenary College, Hackettstown, NJ
1989 Women of the Garden State, Rabbet Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ
1988 City Without Walls 7th Annual Metro Show, Newark, NJ
1988 St. John’s Exhibit of Contemporary Religious Art, Newark, NJ
1988 Artists’ League of Central NJ, Middlesex County Museum
1988 Tweed George Street Playhouse Show, New Brunswick, NJ
1988 Ceres Gallery, NYFAI Work of the Spirit, New York, NY
1988 O Roe Electric Art Space CWW Metro Show, Hoboken, NJ
1987 City Without Walls 6th Annual Metro Show, Newark, NJ
1987 Tweed Drawing Group, Plainfield, NJ
1987 Hunterdon Art Center Annual Juried Exhibition, Clinton, NJ
1986 City Without Walls 5th Annual Metro Show, Newark, NJ
1985 “Editorials” Tweed Exhibit, Montclair State College, NJ
1982 Brandeis University Juried Exhibit, Washington, DC