Namaste: Spirituality in Contemporary Art (2017)

NAMASTE Spirituality in Contemporary Art

Lyssa Kayra, Anjuna Textile, India, 2015, acrylic, gold leaf, and resin on wood, 48" x 48"

Introduction The Sergott Contemporary Art Alliance (SCAA) presents “Namaste: Spirituality in Contemporary Art,� an exhibition of artists who explore meditation, spirituality, religion, and the discarnate in their work.

Exhibiting Artists Joe Caroff Ingrid Croce Einar & Jamex De La Torre Alenka Dearmin Leah & Stan Goldberg Daphne Hill & Anna Stump Beliz Iristay Lyssa Kayra Sean Keany Jeffery Laudenslager Echo Lew Momilani Ramstrum Becky Robbins Robert Pendleton Heidi Rufeh Jiela Rufeh Deanne Sabeck Shima Shanti Charles Snowden Gary Walker

Joe Caroff U.S.A. Joe Caroff is an artist who explores abstraction through mixed media paintings that verge on the sculptural.

“Caroff’s work is about the vital inner world of the artist as well as a response to the broader world and current events. Often suggestive narrative elements seep into abstract forms. Color accents the monochromatic. Forms define negative and positive space. Lines interface and rise from the surface. Through his work, Joe Caroff strives to unify diverse aesthetics and influences to create a unique internal harmony. His intuitive process – guided by the interaction between line, color and space – defines the direction of each work as it evolves.” – Tracy L. Adler

Untitled I 1999 mixed media 23” x 30” (framed)

Untitled II 2001 mixed media 19” x 19” (framed)

Ingrid Croce http://ingridcroceart.com Ingrid Croce, widow of the late singer songwriter Jim Croce, opened Croce’s Restaurant and Jazz Bar as a tribute to her late husband’s music and memory. But the love story of Jim and Ingrid began in 1963, when Jim was captivated by Ingrid and her voice.

The two began writing and performing together as a duo when Ingrid was just 16. While attending Rhode Island School of Design, Jim proposed, and Ingrid returned to Philadelphia and married Jim in 1966 continuing her studies at Moore College of Art, and winning a fellowship in painting and ceramics to study abroad.

In the late 60’s Ingrid presented her work at the Museum of Folk Art in NYC and sold her mixed media and collages. Rauschenberg, Picasso and Chagall are among her greatest influences. But in 1969 she left her “art” behind when the couple made an album on Capitol Records, and Ingrid and Jim toured the country performing their music at college concerts, folk clubs and bars.

“Ingrid believes the spontaneous action of configuring and reconfiguring collages creates an image that is closer to her own perception of consciousness than she often realizes, and is infatuated with the process. You can change a canvas in the blink of an eye, make mistakes, make things right again and figure out when your work is done. Life is never that easy!”

Wheel of Dharma 2012 collage 36" x 36"

Elinar & Jamex De La Torre Mexico and U.S.A. “Collaborating artists-brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre were born in Guadalajara, México (1963 & 1960), where they grew up until a sudden family move to California in 1972. Presently living and working in both Ensenada, México and San Diego, California. Jamex started lampworking glass in 1977, attended California State University at Long Beach under scholarship; received a BFA in Sculpture in 1983. Einar started work with glass in 1980; also attended California State University Long Beach. Both owned and operated a flame-worked glass figure business from 1981 to 1997.

The De la Torre brothers inhabit a multicultural, polyglot world, creating works that serve as delightful and thought-provoking funhouse mirrors that distort reality in comical and subversive ways. Whether it’s a reflection of the increasing diversity of athletes in American sports in Nazcar Dad or an homage to the violent Oaxaca rebellion in 2006 through zAppo, the brothers let their imaginations run wild, exploring everything from the cultural significance of fusion cuisine and the deeper side of pop culture to the intersection between Mexican and American cultures and politics.”

– Laguiri

Tara’s Temple 2011 Archival print, resin casting, and mixed media 48” x 36”

Miclantecuhtli 2015 terracotta, blown glass, mixed media 19” x 19” x 39”

Alenka Dearmin http://www.alenkaartgallery.com “Growing up as a little girl I lived in two different worlds, my family’s world and the outside world. We could not reveal our true beliefs, feelings and opinions as the communist regime allowed for no other opinions except the party line. it was at that time, I created my own world through painting and when I came to the U.S.A. my passion grew for abstract painting which lets me uncover, explore and reveal my deepest emotions, feelings and ideas “

Balance 1,2 2015 mixed media 12" x 36"

Pressure Makes Diamonds 2016 acrylic on canvas 36" x 48"

Leah & Stan Goldberg U.S.A. Leah was born an artist and, as such, was successful prior to teaming up with Stan in 1993.

Educated at the Minneapolis Art Institute, she was the country’s youngest set designer at a major theater (Tyrone Guthrie Metropolitan). She also taught art to children basing the curriculum on a synthesis of Japanese calligraphic and Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) techniques. The one constant, however, has been painting which she has been working at for over forty years. A graduate of the New School for Social Research, Stan’s background was in commercial (advertising) art with a specialty in art business-related marketing via his own advertising agency in NY. It was actually in his art gallery in Breckenridge, CO, though, where he and Leah met in 1992. Their being a team making paintings together is unusual, but not unique. They work on each painting together, one at a time, complementing one another with different skill sets. The team began creating their Tibetan Buddhist-inspired works after studying the subject for years beginning in 2003.

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Mandala to the 16 Power 2011 tapestry 59” x 59”

Daphne Hill and Anna Stump http://www.hillandstump.com Hill & Stump work together in their studio in San Diego and maintain space in the Brewery Arts Complex in Los Angeles. Hill earned her MFA from Claremont Graduate University. Stump, a Senior Fulbright Scholar, earned her MFA at San Diego State University. Both artists teach studio and art history courses in the San Diego Community and the Grossmont/Cuyamaca College Districts. They also teach inmates at Donovan State Correctional Facility.

Pink Magnolia 2016 acrylic color and metallic float between layers of epoxy resin 21� x 36�

Beliz Iristay Turkey, Mexico, and U.S.A. Born in Izmir,Turkey, Beliz graduated from Dokuz Eylul Fine Art University with a focus on Turkish Ceramics Arts. She moved to both USA and Mexico in 2005. In her work, Beliz often uses the venerable traditions of her home country(s) and combines them with contemporary techniques.

She collects the subject materials for her work from the traditions and politics of the countries she is living in. Beliz now passes on her ceramic knowledge by teaching in her studio in EnsenadaMexico. She continues to explore new ways to develop her art in different forms.

She has shown her work internationally in Usa,Turkey and Mexico.She got nominated for arts grants and public art projects in San Diego,Ca and Izmir,Turkey. She now lives between in Baja California, Mexico and in San Diego, California with her family.

EBA 2016 hand-carved walnut, resin cast, mirror coat 20� x 30�

Jeffery Laudenslager U.S.A. “The work I do today is kinetic sculpture that consists of geometric shapes which are joined and balanced so that wind alone will activate them. And there is a sort of history to the development of this current work. I began using the figure as a basis of early work and that quickly became quite abstract, but the gestural, human qualities remained. An extended period of "illusionist" sculptures played with masses that defied gravity and retained a bit of narrative quality to them as well. I became increasingly interested in the levitating appearance of discreet parts that made up the entire sculpture. I wanted to see things float and move. My last 15 years of artistic production have been devoted to making my art practice as precise, visually satisfying, seductive and, well, yes, beautiful as I can achieve.”

ITSABOUTFUCKINGTIME 2014 stainless steel and titanium 99” x 72” x 42”

Lyssa Kayra www.lyssakayra.com Vancouver based artist, Lyssa Kayra grew up on the remote and rugged West Coast of Vancouver Island where she developed her life-long appreciation of natural forms. Her latest series of meticulously painted tree-rings are inspired by these elements and the persistence of time and growth. The series was born and exhibited in 2015 in Barcelona, where Lyssa spent the majority of the year traveling from, documenting, and sourcing diverse locations and colours for the collection.

A gifted master of colour, Lyssa creates artworks that resonate with particular places she’s traveled, often extracting the colours of a landscape or location directly from small watercolour studies or photographs she’s taken during her many trips abroad.

In this collection one might recognize the rich colours of Moroccan landscapes, technicolor hues of Indian textiles, the warmth of the Sahara, or vivid graffiti neons of Berlin, all depicted as the rings of an old growth tree, allowing us a peek at their hidden beauty. Her large mandala-esque pieces are both captivating and peaceful.

Lyssa studied fine arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Her work is defined by West Coast elements with environmental undertones and the international palette of her travels. She works with acrylics and resin on wood.

Anjuna Textile, India 2015 acrylic, gold leaf and resin on wood 48" x 48"

Fes Tanneries South II 2016 Acrylic and resin on wood 48” x48”

Sean Keany www.seankeany.com Keany combines concepts and motifs of spiritual and universal elements into abstract paintings inspired by his commitment to a sustainable life of health, authentic experience and integrity, as shown through his love of the ocean, surfing and yoga. In his ‘Unison’ series, Keany’s work flows with expressive layers of color washes and intertwining concentric circles to represent the etheric aura of spirits atop the abstracted immateriality of nature. The viewer is located from the above perspective, looking down from a cloud or snorkeling in the ocean, to create his unique expression of spiritual coastal living.

The purity and strength of nature and the spirit itself rests at the center of his circle of influences, which flows into his canvases. This way he avoids hierarchies and allows for an organic and freeing creative process. As the circular motif becomes interlaced with others, captivating symmetric patterns and subtle textures are created across the surfaces of his canvases. The artist continually responds to the spontaneous evolution of each work and uses the ambiguity to heighten the life of each abstraction.

Sea Flower 2016 photography of moving lights, printed on Fine Art paper 24” x 24”

Echo Lew U.S.A. “After several hours of preparation, I use just a single shot to complete each image. During an exposure time of approximately one minute, I manipulate lights in front of the camera to create my ‘Light Drawings.’ Sometimes I invert the positive image to a negative one on a computer but otherwise the “Light Drawings” are not manipulated. Sometimes I put the same positive and negative images side-by-side in the finished piece. . . I became curious about the effects of lights in motion. Could this become the basis of a new kind of drawing? I experimented with cameras and lights until I was able to spontaneously tap into decades of drawing experience while the camera’s shutter was open, bringing life to a series of ‘Light Drawings.’

The technique originated in 1914 when scientists Frank and Lillian Gilbreth used small lights and an open shutter to track the motions of factory workers. My light drawings are inspired by Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly, whose paintings are composed with spontaneous actions— performances traced in time. I have been an abstract painter for many years, concerned with line, shape, and composition. Digital photography allows me to expand creatively while using an ultracontemporary medium with a limitless potential. Art for me is an experimental adventure, a profound form of play.”

Untitled-5562 2016 Photography of Moving Lights, printed on Canvas.

Edition 6 40” x 60”

Untitled_5009 2016 Photography of moving lights, printed on Hahnemuhle fine art paper Edition 12 18” x 23” unframed

Robert Pendleton U.S.A. Robert Pendleton has pursued his interest in fine art photography since childhood, but only recently entered into the realm of digital photography and began exhibiting his work. His technique of expanding dynamic range by selectively colorizing discrete ranges of luminosity leads to enhanced, at times even ambiguous perception of depth, and is sometimes described as “painting with photography.” Robert is currently collaborating with a software engineer to develop new tools to facilitate the manipulation of luminosity in digital images.

Robert Pendleton MD, PhD is an Ophthalmologist from La Jolla, California. He pioneered the technique of ultrasound-laser vision.

Unintentional As Whole Tree 2015 photograph 37” x 38”

Unblind Faith 2016 face mounted acrylic with overlay printing 36” x 42”

Momilani Ramstrum U.S.A. As an artist, Momilani uses intuition, inspiration, discipline and madness. In each painting, she strives for exquisite detail as well as movement through the piece as a whole. Her visual art is influenced by musical improvisation, with the interplay of lines creating dissonance and resolving into consonance. She creates many layered-textures, enlivened by contrasting sections, and varied forms. Her use of color is bold with entwined and distinctive, twists and complements. She draws inspiration from her photography of nature, the desert, trees and plants and the vibrant interplay of shape and light. Her visual images are created through a process of internal dialogue with the painting – she watches the play of colors and shapes, sometimes for hours. Layers are begun, and a painting allowed to form itself over weeks or months of reflection. As a composer and inventor, she holds a patent for her MIDI glove which she created to control the computer in realtime. She has a Ph.D. in electronic music and performs unique improvisations using voice interacting with a MIDI glove controlled computer. She performs and gives presentations at seminars, festivals and conferences in California, Hawaii, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.

The Water of Life 2016 mixed media on canvas 48� x 60"

Heidi Rufeh U.S.A. “My abstract paintings reflect my intensely personal feelings to my surroundings, where I freely give expression to dreams and my inner self. Vibrant color compositions allude to pictorial events that evoke a contemplative mood and invite the viewer to enter into the world of my imagination.

The textures created with the encaustic medium in combination with collage elements, give voice to suggestive drama and mystery.�

Heidi grew up in West-Berlin, Germany where she spent a pleasant and sheltered childhood. Her father was the first to introduce her to art, since he himself wanted to become a sculptor. As she got older she became more aware of the restrictive nature of the divided city of Berlin. The EastWest conflict had an enormous impact on her as members of her family were fleeing to the West.

In 1963 she moved to the Boston area of the United States where she experienced more personal freedom. She took classes at Harvard University and traveled all over the United States. She studied at the De Cordova Museum School and later at Massachusetts College of Art. That was followed by exhibiting her paintings in Massachusetts, Soho, New York City, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Colorado.

In 1994 she moved to the San Diego area where she presently resides. At that time she started to work with the challenging encaustic medium, which gave her great freedom of expression.

Awaken 2016 encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 30" x 20"

The Ancient 2016 oil on canvas 52" x 44"

Schutzengel I and II 2016 Encaustic 12” x 12”

Jiela Rufeh U.S.A. “I first began experimenting to create a new dialogue with my photography by combining my pictures with unconventional materials such as canvases made of weathered wood, sheet metal scraps, plexiglass, etc., and playing with the ancient method of encaustic. The encaustic medium captured my interest with its sculpture‐like qualities that come from building up layers of wax, embedding various media, and conversely subtracting and distorting the wax to create another type of texture. This medium suddenly broadened my ability, allowing me to express myself on multiple levels and imbue my work with layered narratives.

By merging the image with the encaustic, it allows me the “push and pull" of sculpting. Using it to bring focus to a space, or obscure a space, and to also literally scrape, carve, and mold the surface of the piece is a constantly dynamic process and brings the photograph back to a living, vibrant, organic state. Restraint becomes an important component in resolving the work; that neither the image nor the surface overpowers the other. Through the repeated handling of the materials, the painting soon expresses the weathered feeling of the landscape and a hidden energy is revealed in my translation.”

Magic Show 2016 encaustic, archival photo, and oil on panel 24" x 24"

Deanne Sabeck U.S.A. “My light sculptures are created from pure light refracted into the brilliant colors of our physical world. Using dichroic glass, which divides the light spectrum, transmitting one color while reflecting its opposite, I create sculptural light paintings with forms and colors that continually evolve, appear and disappear in meditative patterns.”

Sanctuaire de la Jalousie 2013 aluminum, glass, dichroic mosaic and light 24” x 30" x 4” $6,500

Shima Shanti http://www.peacewaters.com “I am a Light-minded soul inspired by Spirit and Nature. Encaustic is my medium for the simple pleasure of its sensual fragrance, and its forgiving, playful, and independent qualities that require only a free spirit and an eye for beauty. Encaustic is multifaceted; both misty and translucent, veiling and revealing. There is a sacred resonance to bees and to wax, a source of nourishment and protection. The simple pleasure of lost hours in the studio absorbs me.

My conventional upbringing, in contrast with a spiritual and existential understanding, is revealed in captivating depth in both my artwork and my writing with the Peace Waters products and books.

Encaustic connects me to the vastness of all that is beyond this seemingly troubled world. It is my open-eye meditation. My style is mostly representational and the process is simple. First I anchor myself in a moment of time and space with an image, oftentimes a photograph. Then I begin to play in the flow and fusion of molten beeswax enlightening the unseen. I simply hold the brush and the Divine Source pulses through me. I delight in the encaustic medium and the spontaneous unfolding of its message.

Similar to life, every layer of beeswax and each moment in time are fused behind and before, creating life’s journey. Witnessing the spontaneous expression of an artist’s perspective deepens one’s self-awareness and reveals one’s perception of Reality. This is the gift of art.”

Kwan Yin - All Flowing 2016 encaustic collage assemblage 11" x 9"

Genesha - Lay Your Burden Down 2016 encaustic collage assemblage 12” x 12”

Kwan Yin – East Dawn’s Light 2016 encaustic collage assemblage 10” x 10”

Lakshmi 2016 encaustic collage assemblage 12” x 12”

Little Buddhas 2016 encaustic collage assemblage (6) 6” x 6”

Little Buddha 2016 encaustic collage assemblage 7” x 8”

Fragile Holdings 2016 encaustic collage assemblage 12” x 12”

Shiva Great & Powerful 2016 encaustic collage assemblage 12” x 12"

Gary Walker www.garywalkeronline.com “My art works/creations are actual veneers, and just beneath these gossamer veneers of ever evolving form, color, line and texture, are the undulating specters of individual and collective consciousness. My mission as an artist is to coax these specters to the surface for the viewer to behold and engage so that the embedded truths may rise to and above the apparent and challenging surface into some form of conscious realization and/or transformation of thought and action. My task is to create a space where this chemicalization of perception may take place for the viewer to consciously consider what is real and what is illusion and to try to find what lies between and betwixt what we call reality and imagination, be it beautiful or ugly, but always truthful.”

Abwoon 2011 acrylic and mixed media on canvas 48” x 72”

Out to See 2011 mixed media 48” x 36”

The Judas 13 - FUBAR 2012 mixed media 26” x 38”

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