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PAIRINGS
Martha Braun and Rochelle Shicoff Thursday March 7 through Saturday, March 30, 2024 Opening Reception Thursday, March 7, 5-8:00 pm Art Forum on Zoom: Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 pm (Click to register) |
PAIRINGS / Martha Braun and Rochelle Shicoff
In PAIRINGS, Martha Braun applies her experience as a painter to the discipline of printmaking. Rochelle Shicoff presents a series using encaustic, paint, pastel, and photomontage. The pair will exhibit their work during the month of March with an opening reception on Thursday, March 7 from 5-7:00 pm.
In PAIRINGS, Martha Braun applies her experience as a painter to the discipline of printmaking. Rochelle Shicoff presents a series using encaustic, paint, pastel, and photomontage. The pair will exhibit their work during the month of March with an opening reception on Thursday, March 7 from 5-7:00 pm.
MARTHA BRAUN
Martha Braun is a painter who is finding new expression in printmaking, specifically using the Japanese technique called "sosaku hanga."
Braun's current work examines the process of the transition from paint to print, and, in a sense, is experimental—an exploratory version of what is yet to come. The pairings—paintings and prints in different media and from different points of Braun’s creative history—provide a context in which to examine the past, present, and future simultaneously.
The Japanese word "sosaku hanga" (or "moku hanga") denotes both a particular style as well as a technique of working that utilizes artist-carved woodblocks as a matrix for image transfer. These blocks are printed using a hand-held rubbing tool, called a baren, and water-based inks. The absorbent nature of Asian paper and the fluidity of the inks allow the paper and the image to become an amalgam—two materials inseparably combined—creating a characteristic matte finish with a gentle glow.
The work is non-representational, depicting forces rather than things, and focuses on the nature of existence as the artist perceives it. The forms are evocative, associative, mystical, philosophical—all facets of a nonmateriality that suggests rather than defines. This level of subjectivity allows the viewer greater freedom to explore their own perceptions of any piece. The possibility of such an engagement requires time, intent, and willingness for introspection on the parts of both viewer and artist.
Martha Braun is a painter who is finding new expression in printmaking, specifically using the Japanese technique called "sosaku hanga."
Braun's current work examines the process of the transition from paint to print, and, in a sense, is experimental—an exploratory version of what is yet to come. The pairings—paintings and prints in different media and from different points of Braun’s creative history—provide a context in which to examine the past, present, and future simultaneously.
The Japanese word "sosaku hanga" (or "moku hanga") denotes both a particular style as well as a technique of working that utilizes artist-carved woodblocks as a matrix for image transfer. These blocks are printed using a hand-held rubbing tool, called a baren, and water-based inks. The absorbent nature of Asian paper and the fluidity of the inks allow the paper and the image to become an amalgam—two materials inseparably combined—creating a characteristic matte finish with a gentle glow.
The work is non-representational, depicting forces rather than things, and focuses on the nature of existence as the artist perceives it. The forms are evocative, associative, mystical, philosophical—all facets of a nonmateriality that suggests rather than defines. This level of subjectivity allows the viewer greater freedom to explore their own perceptions of any piece. The possibility of such an engagement requires time, intent, and willingness for introspection on the parts of both viewer and artist.
Martha Braun, "Song of the Late September Sun," diptych, paper collage
ROCHELLE SHICOFF
Rochelle Shicoff’s body of work involves the visual expression of aspects of the human condition. In this photomontage series titled "Everything Is So Still," the viewer is invited into an intimate world associated with actual or imaginary travels.
Animal figures serve to show human instincts and act as active forces. Some symbolize strength and endurance, such as goat and snake, or vulnerability as insects.
Shicoff incorporates photographs from her travels and observations in New York City, Bali, Thailand, and Germany.
The series also explores the passage of time. Time is remembered as a memory or as a fleeting moment. The work infers that people have been in these places and have just left or were present a long time ago.
The use of oil paint and pastel layered on top of encaustic adds texture and dimension to the images. The layering and incising of these materials is in direct conversation with the colors. The scratching and piercing through multiple applications of materials, which encaustic allows, creates an added degree of mystery and tension to the work.
Shicoff finds the labor-intensive process of applying encaustic with a small brush to be extremely meditative. The encaustic/wax on each layer creates hills and valleys, resulting in a new surface which she finds very beautiful.
Rochelle Shicoff’s body of work involves the visual expression of aspects of the human condition. In this photomontage series titled "Everything Is So Still," the viewer is invited into an intimate world associated with actual or imaginary travels.
Animal figures serve to show human instincts and act as active forces. Some symbolize strength and endurance, such as goat and snake, or vulnerability as insects.
Shicoff incorporates photographs from her travels and observations in New York City, Bali, Thailand, and Germany.
The series also explores the passage of time. Time is remembered as a memory or as a fleeting moment. The work infers that people have been in these places and have just left or were present a long time ago.
The use of oil paint and pastel layered on top of encaustic adds texture and dimension to the images. The layering and incising of these materials is in direct conversation with the colors. The scratching and piercing through multiple applications of materials, which encaustic allows, creates an added degree of mystery and tension to the work.
Shicoff finds the labor-intensive process of applying encaustic with a small brush to be extremely meditative. The encaustic/wax on each layer creates hills and valleys, resulting in a new surface which she finds very beautiful.
Rochelle Shicoff, "Deep into Time," mixed media
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Rochelle Shicoff, "Always Noon," mixed media
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ART FORUM ONLINE
In an Art Forum Online on Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 pm, Braun and Shicoff will speak about their process and the work in PAIRINGS. (Click here for video.) This Art in Community outreach program is supported in part by grants from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Springfield Cultural Council, local agencies, which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
In an Art Forum Online on Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 pm, Braun and Shicoff will speak about their process and the work in PAIRINGS. (Click here for video.) This Art in Community outreach program is supported in part by grants from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Springfield Cultural Council, local agencies, which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.