"Abstracts: A Series of Series" & "Enjoying Regenerative Play" Art Exhibits at the Cultural Arts Center

Description

"Abstracts: A Series of Series" by Karolyn Alexander & "Enjoying Regenerative Play" by Virginia Epps presented by Whitewater Arts Alliance

An artist’s statement provided by Karolyn Alexander: I have been creating art regularly for the past 30 years. About 10 years ago, abstract painting found its way into my heart. Since 2015 I have focused on painting abstracts with acrylic paint, mixed media and sometimes collage. I work on gallery wrapped canvas, cradled panel, and paper. For the past several years I have been working in series. The theme or subject for a series varies for me but the task of creating paintings that are related in some way offers the possibility of exploring a subject or technique in greater depth.

An artist’s statement provided by Virginia Epps: Discarded paper products such as tissue wrapping paper, grocery bags, corrugated cardboard, shipping cylinders, and mat board leftovers serve as my primary medium. When working in low relief, I cut and laminate mat board scraps and/or corrugated cardboard to build the base design. To this structure, I add loops or columns that I quill from papers I have cut from discarded papers such as wrapping tissue, envelopes, dressmaker patterns, handouts, or maps. I also add colored pencil or graphite to the assembled low relief. When working in two dimensions, I laminate multiple layers of discarded or scrap papers on Masonite or on mat board. Once the laminated papers are dry, I sand the surface and often add additional layers of paper. The sanding and layering process becomes a cycle exposing unexpected random shapes and colors. As a final step building collages, I either draw on the sanded surface with graphite, ink, or colored pencil or tone the surface with acrylic glazes.