Sunday afternoon openings at Silvermine

Silvermine Guild Arts Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Spring Exhibits at Silvermine
Feb. 28—Apr. 9, 2010
Opening Reception: Sun., Feb. 28, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

Winter brings exciting exhibits to the Silvermine Guild Arts Center, located in New Canaan, CT. Opening on Feb. 28 and running through Apr.9, are four new exhibits from a juried Guild group show to a visual dialogue between two artists and two solo exhibits. All are welcome to the opening reception on Sun., Feb. 28, from 2—4 p.m. in the Silvermine Galleries.

An exhibition that witnesses ongoing visual dialogue between artists Susan Newbold and Alex Rheault is what viewers will experience in Natural Overlaps. For almost two years, these artists have explored drawing and printmaking techniques in both collaborative and solitary practices. Both practices have resulted in a body of work that is unique unto itself as it reflects both artists' sensibilities. Newbold and Rheault studied and responded to several of the same photographs taken individually. The common denominator: originating in Maine's natural landscape. Sometimes, the artists would draw from observation together and rework those initial drawings into one large scale response. Other times, they would draw the same subject, swap drawings or prints, and work on each other's work. Newbold and Rheault's work provides windows into moments of making, reflecting, and processing the natural and the sensory, the imagined and the perceived. They made discoveries about subjectivity, control, boundaries, and flexibility. This work bolstered their friendship and expanded their insights about the value of their work and collaboration.

The juried Guild Group show, Inside/Out, explores the many ways in which the concept of inside or out can be interpreted. It could be literally indoor or outdoor landscapes, or it could refer to inner thoughts, emotions, and dreams, versus the actual world as represented by objects and events. Artists were encouraged to stretch their imaginations and create work that visually expresses their notion of what "inside" or "outside" implies. Works in all medium were submitted to the show.

The focus of Softening the Edge: 1964-2009, an exhibition by Alberta Cifolelli (Web), is to look back at over 40 of the artist's works from the 60's through the 90's. By pairing recent work with key examples of her past work, the exhibition will create a forum for discussing key elements and reoccurring themes. Specifically, these pairings will focus on her use of color, line and form and how these elements have evolved, and will also serve as a springboard for discussing the connections between her more representational contemporary work and her older more abstract work.

A set of prints that began as meaningless drawings, miniscule in size, acquired a second existence in The Doodle Series, a new exhibit of works by Washington, D.C. artist, and Silvermine Guild Artist member, Natasha Karpinskaia. Each drawing was enlarged, giving the artist a sense of importance and beauty not seen in their original incarnation. By placing these drawings in a particular environment, they turned out to be a sort of landscape, with a definite horizon line but unidentifiable in terms of direct location. The doodle drawings were etched through a paper lithography process and incorporated into what the artist calls "surrealist landscape." According to Karpinskaia, "Humor is an essential element in my work. I like to laugh at myself and at the ridiculousness of human nature, and I like the viewer to share this experience with me and have a good time. Sometimes a serious concept can be turned into a laughing matter. However, the sense of aesthetics is also important; I try conveying a certain sense of beauty and elegance through my work."