Collage show reception at Stamford Art Association Sat., April 6

Stamford Art Association Townhouse Gallery
39 Franklin St., Stamford, (203) 325-1139
Piecing It Together—Contemporary Collage
Mar. 31—Apr. 25, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Apr. 6, 4—6 p.m.

Press release from Stamford Art Association

Connected by a unique teacher and mentor, Piecing it Together–Contemporary Collage, showcases the work of four female artists from Fairfield County. The women met, bonded and found a common love for collage in the "Fragments into Wholes" classes taught by artist Barbara Rothenberg at the Silvermine School of Art. The show will be on view from Mar. 31—Apr. 25 with an opening reception on Sat., Apr. 6, from 4—6 p.m.

Elizabeth Nagle, Mary Elizabeth Peterson, Amy Schott and Ruth Kalla Ungerer are each exploring the medium of collage and pushing boundaries. For them, this involves the use of non-traditional materials, found objects and everyday household items. They share a belief in collage as a vehicle for altering the familiar, bridging the past, present and future, using universal themes and revealing aspects of life that make us all human. Collage is alluring to these artists because it is spontaneous, forgiving, expressive, descriptive, immediate and expansive.

Nagle’s work is inspired by abstraction and the free spiritedness that goes with it. Concerned with color, gesture and composition her process is mostly intuitive, unplanned and free flowing. She works on multiple pieces at a time, adding, subtracting, doing and undoing, layering, covering and uncovering until eventually a dialogue develops with the work. Each piece becomes a journey with its own life and language. Her works are often grounded in narrative. They are inventive, mischievous, witty, pleasantly offbeat and often populated with weird and wonderful characters.

Peterson takes a painterly approach to collage. She incorporates unusual materials in her works including roofing tiles, plastics and driftwood along with found and handmade papers. In addition to painting, she uses a variety of techniques including drawing, printmaking and sewing. Her works echo her love of nature and capture its energy, tension and organic elements. Led by instinct, her multilayered collages have wonderful depth and complexity. They are elegant, open ended and free flowing. There is a visual poetry to be found in them.

Schott with her background in graphic design took to collage like a duck to water. She is a true scavenger and only uses found materials in their original form. She favors timeworn ephemera such as weathered scraps, used stamps, old maps and advertisements. She is a deconstructionist who removes items from their original contexts and reconstructs them in new and unexpected ways. Some of her works are elaborately layered and composed while others are designed with efficiency and an understated elegance.

Kalla Ungerer powerfully blends images, text and pieces from nature into works that evoke larger than life sentiments. Primarily a printmaker, she seamlessly incorporates pieces from her prints along with found objects into her work giving her collages tension and a compelling tactile quality. Her works are very personal, provocative and sensitive to the wonders and disappointments of everyday life. She describes her art as "the window I open to my feelings and values. In today’s complex world, my work affords me an opportunity to seek and realize personal significance."