Indecipherable Messages

Indecipherable Messages Curated by Nadia Martinez

May 20 to June 18, 2017

Miranda Arts Project Space Port Chester, NY

Miranda Arts Project Space is pleased to present Indecipherable Messages, a group exhibition curated by Nadia Martinez, featuring works by Teresa Waterman, Esther Rosa, Michelle Bratsafolis, and Kathryn Cameron. They are working across medium including paintings, mixed media, sculptures, and installations.

Every artwork in this exhibition is a form of expression that reflects a rotation of ideas, beliefs, concerns or exchanges among all those things within an artist’s mind.

At first, the viewer might not be able to find meaning behind the marks or gestures that comprise an artwork or understand the circumstances that gave rise to its creation. The artist’s hand does not necessarily reveal a particular structure or order; however, a combination of intention and instinct often result in balance, a harmony of contrast, and rhythm within each piece. This process, unique to each artist, is a like a hidden language or code of expression; Indecipherable Messages whose meanings can be revealed only by their creators.

Nadia Martinez, Curator

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Kathryn Cameron Whatever exists at any point in time is inevitably subject to temporal change. Through a journey in the ephemeral nature of all things, I explore the subtle manipulation of the materials.

The rich textures of our earth’s surface are translated by natural elements of paper, wood and metal into organic forms.

Sensations emerge through alteration and temporality, and the interaction between the materials facilitates a deep connection with our environment, indicating a small path in order to try to understand ourselves. My work relies on the paradox of revealing and concealing, hiding and uncovering, and in the dichotomy of awareness and uncertainty I can manipulate and expose.

My works are constructed in paper and metal, materials that are both ephemeral in nature. I work in paper for its suppleness, delicacy and strength and its willingness to be transformed, both in form and texture. The metal, stark in physical contrast, represents resilience, resolve and physical power. I create spaces of uncertainty, thought, balance and renewal -- places that invite contemplation of growth, decay, and the ebb and flow of light and life that makes our world so full of its natural, beautiful chaos.

Fragmentation, 2017 Kozu Paper, India ink, rust, insect pins Site specific installation 6

Friction, 2017 Watercolor paper, rust 8 x 8 inches detail

Fragmentation, 2017 Kozu Paper, India ink, rust, insect pins Site specific installation detail 7

Esther Rosa As a Psychologist and as a person I believe one of the biggest issues we have to deal with in our daily life is to balance our wellbeing and mental health...

To keep our inner balance under adversity. How to find that natural force that is the resilience that helps most people to overcome their misfortunes.

In the face of adversities, that tests our physical and emotional balance, which threatens the survival itself, we need mechanisms to resist. Emotional connections, mental faculties, self-esteem, positive thinking, the reasons for living and the inclination to locate the control center within oneself are the factors that allow us to recover from the blows and even come out strengthened.

With the aim of being the best prepared possible when facing the difficulties that inevitably gives us life, we need to learn how to find happiness in our life, we need to learn how to keep a positive thinking, accepting the ebb and flow of life, embracing our imperfections as part of our singularity.

These works were created in a pursuit of my balance, I needed to look back to my origin to find who I was in order to find who I want to become. Using organic materials as sand and paper allows me to dig into my roots.

Yellow Coral II Coffee filters over wood panel with beeswax 12 x 12 x 9 inches

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From My Window Oil and sand on canvas 30 x 40 inches

Albero Acrylic and sand on canvas 30 x 30 inches 9

Michelle Bratsafolis Quiet reflection and contemplation can be restorative in turbulent times. This series of paintings on natural wood are a stripped down, organic reaction to the myriad of complicated issues that have come to dominate the public conversations of today. Non-pictorial gestures and marks in varying palettes allude to natural phenomena without defining them, inviting closer examination, interpretation and response.

Oasis III, 2017 Oil on birch wood 6 x 6 inches Site specific installation (detail) 10

Oasis II, 2017 Oil on birch wood 6 x 6 inches Site specific installation (detail)

Oasis I, 2017 Oil on birch wood 6 x 6 inches Site specific installation (detail) 11

Teresa Waterman "Linguistic Murmurs " is a study of language and art as possible words.

Inspired by the political rhetoric during the 2016 presidential campaign, quasi words form a language of icons and indexes questioning truth and authenticity.

The dense journalistic networks of inky unreadable symbols are fragments of communications torn from their original context.

Muted, they are meant to disrupt flow and conversation.

Antique doilies drift across the paper like floating stars filled with an ethereal meaning.

Exposed by time, these echoing feminine voices communicate their presence with tranquility.

Multiple meanings and transcriptions begin to form in the mind.

By using unreadable symbols, understanding without knowledge is conflicted.

With an absence of structure and meaning, words become a" Murmur."

Absent Voices, 2017 Vintage lace and wooden embroidery hoops Site specific installation

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Linguistic Murmurs, 2017 Paper, Litho Crayon and vintage lace 20 x 30 inches each Installation, measurements variable

Linguistic Murmurs, 2017 Paper, Litho Crayon and vintage lace 20 x 30 inches each Installation, measurements variable 13

Kathryn Cameron is an American artist. Kathryn creates Installations, sculptures, drawings, paintings formed by materials with rich textures that echo natural elements of the Earth. She works with paper and metal, materials that are ephemeral in nature and are subject to the effects of the passage of time. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Video Production and has studied sculpture at the National Academy School of Fine Arts, The New York Academy of Arts and the School of Visual Arts in New York. Kathryn Cameron has largely exhibited in United States of America, Europe, and New Zealand, through solo and group exhibitions. Her work is in private and public collections, and it is the subject of several articles and essays. Kathryn Cameron lives and works in New York. www.kathryncameron.com

Esther Rosa was born in Madrid, Spain. She is psychologist specialized in Human Resources working in the Media sector for almost 15 years. Esther discovered her passion for fine arts when she and her family moved to New York in 2006. She started her studies in Fine Arts at the “National Academy School of Fine Arts” in Manhattan, NY. Once there, she discovered an ability and passion she didn’t know she had. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally in solo, group exhibitions and Art Fairs. Art on Paper Art Fair, NY: Affordable Art Fair, NY; Aqua Art Fair, Art Basel week, Miami, Florida; Sohotel Artspace Gallery, NY; Sonia Gechtoff Gallery, NY; National Academy Museum, NY; Kreisler Gallery, Madrid, Spain among others. She lives and works in New York. www.estherrosa.com

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Michelle Bratsafolis is an interdisciplinary artist who received her B.A. in American Studies from Brandeis University and her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law. She pursued her interests in painting, alternative photographic processes and other mediums during three years of full-time study at the National Academy School of Fine Arts in New York City, where she completed the Studio Intensive Program. She has also studied at the International Center of Photography and the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and at the Art New England Summer Program sponsored by the Massachusetts College of Art and Design at Bennington College in Vermont. Ms. Bratsafolis has exhibited her work both in the United States and abroad, and her work is in several private collections. She is an active member of the Brandeis University Arts Council, which annually reviews faculty proposals seeking funding for special art, music and theater programs to benefit university students and the community at large.

She lives and works in New York City. www.michellebratsafolis.com

Teresa Waterman received her BA in Fine Arts from Skidmore College and Masters Degree from Pratt Institute in Interior Architecture. She began a professional career in architecture at Gensler and Associates. Waterman was also a studio assistant in the Lanzrein Studio. She has been a teaching fellow in the Skidmore College's Summer Six Program, and has taught art history with the Learning to Look Programs. She is an art educator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She has also been a portfolio reviewer for New York State Council of the Arts Grants Awards. She is currently a full-time practicing artist with a studio in Port Chester, NY. www.teresawaterman.com

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Curated by Nadia Martinez. Ms. Martinez is an artist and an emerging curator who has exhibited her work nationally and internationally in individual and group exhibitions at Zorya Fine Art, Greenwich; National Academy Museum, New York; ArtLima, Lima, Peru; Pinta Art Fair, New York; 4uattro Pareti Galleria, Napoli, Italy among others. Ms. Martinez is currently on the faculty of the National Academy School where she teaches sculpture. www.nadiamartinez.com

miranda arts project space was founded by artist, curator, and educator Patricia Miranda, as a space for curatorial exploration, exhibition, collaboration, and the gathering of ideas across disciplines and art forms. www.mirandaartsprojectspace.com

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