Past Show
NEW WORK IN OCTOBER
Kerry St. Laurent / Reflex
Abbie Wanamaker / At a Glimpse
October 7-30, 2021
Limited Opening Reception
October 7, 5-8:00 pm
Artist Forum on Zoom
Click to view video recording
SEE WORKS FOR SALE IN THE SHOP GALLERY
Gallery A3 Displays New Work
by Kerry St. Laurent and Abbie Wanamaker
Reflex, Kerry St. Laurent
In scale and in material, Kerry St. Laurent aims for intimacy. Using alcohol ink and some mixed media on Yupo paper, she works smaller than 12 by 12 inches, to encourage viewers to come closer and appreciate the inherent detail of the medium. Her series on display at Gallery A3 was driven by her desire to “move away from introspective, personal works and instead explore the creativity of various literary and audio artists and how their works could translate into visual format.” Two of her inspirations in this series are author B.R. Yeager of South Deerfield and musician Burial Grid of Sunderland.
St. Laurent teaches visual arts at Western New England University.
At a Glimpse, Abbie Wanamaker
Abbie Wanamaker’s large-scale abstract paintings are inspired by the small plein air drawings of western Massachusetts forests, lakes, meadows, and mountains that she made on “endless walks” during the pandemic. She uses house paint and wood, noting, “This combination makes my paintings less precious and turns them into sturdy objects that can be hauled and schlepped.” Her painting practice becomes a type of meditation with color and form. “I move with instinct and often wrestle with the colors, making decisions and then feeling uneasy until I find a sense of order and balance.”
Wanamaker received her BFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and MFA from the University of Southern California. After living in Boston for 15 years, she moved to Amherst two years ago and now lives in the woods with her husband, daughter, and five chickens. She works as an early childhood educator, while continuing to make art.
Art Forum Online
In an Art Forum Online on Thursday, October 21 at 7:30 pm, St. Laurent and Wanamaker will offer a discussion about their works on display at the gallery. The artists will share their artistic process, especially in light of seeing, and sensing, their work as a response to a range of personal experiences.
Click for a recording of this Zoom event. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Images shown above:
(above left) Kerry St. Laurent, Salvador, 2021, 12"x12", mixed media
(above right) Abbie Wanamaker, Untitled (dark blue), 2021, 24"x24", house paint on wood