Larissa Safaryan "Eggsquisite"

Lois Lambert Gallery presents an exhibit of egg shell sculptures by artist Larisa Safaryan. Safaryan creates small delicate works, stacking and balancing intricately carved ovoid shapes, defying our assumptions of egg shells as frail.

Her process begins by choosing the right egg shell for the piece. Safaryan uses egg shells from parrots, doves, goose, quail, emu and parrots. Each bird’s egg has a different texture and thickness so that often the medium itself guides her. In other cases, she creates sketches to plan the surprising feats that these works execute.

The egg has long been a rich symbol. It is a source of life, it is nourishment. It’s shell is a fragile container whose purpose is it’s eventual destruction. Intact shells are precious, surfaces to be adorned. And while decorative egg carving is a traditional craft, Safaryan has taken her egg shells in directions that transcend decorative craft, transcend novelty, and explore the formal possibilities that the ovoid possess.

In this body of work, Larisa explores the idea of freedom to create without restriction as an Existential concept, “As we are all born at a certain time and place, we’re also subject to the surrounding influences. However, while visualizing a new sculpture or paintings I rise above those influences to create something new. My creations reflect the result of my subjective interpretation of human feelings and experiences.”

In several these sculptures, eggs interact with wooden bases, and contain and eject other eggs. In others, Safaryan uses sharp pins that piece through the shells to create a precarious bed of threatening pointed edges, on which smaller intact eggs rest. The sharp and incisive metallic pins create a jarring juxtaposition against the smooth, creamy organic shells.

In other works, her patterned perforations allow us to see through the shells, and to see inside the shells, while still appreciating their creamy exteriors. These works reveal the fundamental strength of the egg by demonstrating how much of surface can in fact be removed while still maintaining the structure of the shell. However, our inherent knowledge of shells as imperilled imbues these sculptures with an emotional charge.

“Cosmic Object II” Goose and Quail egg shells, Cocobolo 5.25” x 6” x 2”

“My medium as well as my method resonates strongly with who I am as an individual, strong yet fragile, elaborate yet simple, demanding surgical precision yet having ample room and freedom for creativity.”

Larisa Safaryan was born in Yerevan, Armenia. Safaryan has a Masters degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Public Management. Yet Larisa’s artistry is doubtlessly also inherited from her father, Nairi Safaryan, a wood sculptor known for his intricate wood carving techniques. Larisa explains that her household was the best art school she could have attended. She spent years accompanying her father to his studio, drawing alongside of him as he sculpted. Her father had an incredible collection of art history books which she spent hours reading.

Larisa Safaryan has exhibited in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Yerevan, Armenia. She has won multiple awards for her artwork: the First Place Award, Glendale Art Association, Illustrious Artist Award in Calabasas, CA, and NICHE Awards Finalist in Philadelphia, PA. This is her first exhibition at the Lois Lambert Gallery.

“My medium as well as my method resonates strongly with who I am as an individual, strong yet fragile, elaborate yet simple, demanding surgical precision yet having ample room and freedom for creativity.”

Larisa Safaryan was born in Yerevan, Armenia. Safaryan has a Masters degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Public Management. Yet Larisa’s artistry is doubtlessly also inherited from her father, Nairi Safaryan, a wood sculptor known for his intricate wood carving techniques. Larisa explains that her household was the best art school she could have attended. She spent years accompanying her father to his studio, drawing alongside of him as he sculpted. Her father had an incredible collection of art history books which she spent hours reading.

Larisa Safaryan has exhibited in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Yerevan, Armenia. She has won multiple awards for her artwork: the First Place Award, Glendale Art Association, Illustrious Artist Award in Calabasas, CA, and NICHE Awards Finalist in Philadelphia, PA. This is her first exhibition at the Lois Lambert Gallery.

Joanne Jaffe "Applied Geometry"

“Who’s on Third” (Side 2) Ceramic: stoneware with under- glaze decoration, fired at cone 10 reduction 12.5” x 7.5” x 9”

Lois Lambert Gallery presents an exhibition of ceramic works by Joanne Jaffe.

“A search for order in a chaotic time” is how ceramic artist Joanne Jaffe explains her current series “Applied Geometry.” Calling on her first love, drawing, she searched for a form that would serve as a foil to her on-going exploration of surface decoration. Inspired by the sublimity of the worlds created by Kandinsky and the Russian Constructivists, she chose a simple rectangular solid as her base and the triangle, circle, checkerboard as her dominant motifs. The base form becomes a 3-D “tablet” around which the drawings are wrapped.

Jaffe, whose past work has been relatively muted in color, has taken a leap into primaries in the nine pieces that comprise the subset “Circus.” She adds the leaf form in the trio of pieces called “Nature Studies” and tempers her palette to emphasis drawing in the duo titled “Graphics.” A common denominator in all three groups is her fondness for trompe l’oeil effects such as disguising corners by carrying patterns around them, or playing with dimensionality by breaking into the flat plane with the unexpected concave or convex element.

The pieces are slab built, high-fired stoneware painted with underglazes; several of them employ mishima—a technique which involves carving and inlaying slip. While sculptural, the rectangles can also function as vases. Not so the three-part piece—a purely sculptural collaboration with Jon Wexler—called “Who’s on Third.” An outgrowth of the series, it is a composite of three semi-circles which provide a more intricate base for the surface decoration.

Jaffe has shown at the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA), the Craft and Folk Art Museum and at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai, as well as at art galleries around California. Her work has been published in the Los Angeles Times Magazine and AmericanStyle Magazine, and has been highlighted in Lark Books’ The Best of 500 Ceramics: Celebrating a Decade in Clay and 500 Vases: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Form.

Serena Potter "Inside Out"

“Inside Out” Oil on canvas 35” x 30”

Lois Lambert Gallery will be exhibiting Serena Potters “Inside Out”. This collection of oil paintings and drawings focuses on themes of sense of self, perceived change or imperfection, private pain vs. public persona, and interpersonal connections. Her paintings and drawings are notable for their use of chiaroscuro inspired by the dramatic cinematic lighting and compositional elements used in film noir. In addition she has been influenced by masters of the golden age such as Norman Rockwell and J.C. Leyendecker. She creates paintings in oil on birch panel or canvas as well as drawings with mixed media charcoal and pastel, on cotton rag paper.

“My art is personal, my inspiration coming from life experience, memories, and dreams. Sometimes I respond to other women in my life and their experience. When I identify a theme for a piece, say a memory, then I ponder ways that I can visually communicate this issue, that will inspire the viewer to ask questions, to think about the piece and to reconsider accepted norms.” Once Serena has an image in mind, she searches the internet to look for similar themes and how the images were used in that particular story. Once she finds the image she likes she decides whether that image is over used and if there is some way to make that image original. “After I have done my research I start sketching thumbnails, small drawings that really just map out composition.”

The next step is a photo shoot. It might take weeks to put together, but in the end, with the help of her husband or daughter as models, that phase is completed. “It is a long process, of getting the lighting just right, often doing a preliminary shoot, uploading images, then doing it again the next day, making adjustments. I sort through the images, finding the few that give me what I need. I often go into Photoshop to adjust saturation, contrast, crop etc. Then I arrange the images, close ups of heads, hands and feet, enlargements of important parts. The next part is Serena’s favorite. The canvas is ordered to fit the proportions of the composition. Now she gets to paint. She uses a grid to hand draw the composition onto the canvas.

“I usually use a grid to hand draw the composition onto the canvas. A five foot by four foot painting might take two to three months to complete. While painting I am making decisions about color, leading the eye with saturation, with value, with clarity and detail and contrast.”

Serena’s painting “Inside Out” is a retelling of a childhood memory where her brother was cleaning his goldfish bowl and put the goldfish in a glass and put that glass on the front porch. He warned her not to spill the water or the fish would die. She spilled the water. She does not remember anything else except the shame and knowledge of how disappointed her brother was. This painting is about those feelings. She sees her future work continuing to explore this idea of early experience and its manifestation on our adult selves.

Potter received her BFA from the University of Utah and her MFA in painting from Laguna College of Art and Design, where she is currently mentoring in their MFA program. She teaches at National University, Mt. San Antonio Community College, Fullerton College and Saddleback Community College. Serena has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in galleries and museums though out the US and UK. Serena Potter’s work is now a part of the Hilbert Museum of California Art collection.

“The Egg Race” Oil on canvas 26” x 30”

Sarah Steinberg "In the Woods"

The Lois Lambert Gallery presents “In the Woods,” a new body of work by Sarah Steinberg. This is Steinberg’s third exhibit at the gallery, with her oil paintings once again plumbing the depths of home, memory and imagination.

Steinberg explains it simply: “... It concerns a cottage in the woods, on a lake that I used to call home.” That home happens to be a special summer place about three hours north of Toronto, Canada. For Steinberg, that particular landscape is a continual source of inspiration.

However, her paintings venture far beyond her memories of any particular place; they epitomize nostalgia as a complex emotion. Sentimentality is unique to each of us; it is not necessarily based on physical or factual places, or events.

“The Moonlight Comes Clear on the Hesitant Grass” Oil on canvas 40” x 40”

Hence, the house in Steinberg’s paintings is a luminous apparition that lingers throughout much of her work. Other pieces boast vibrant trees stretching upwards, with colors both light and dark, as if somehow harboring both joy and secrets. And still other canvases only display the outlines of the house – it’s as if the artist is revealing something that, though no longer there, is still deeply felt; it is her prism.

When painting, Steinberg often surprises herself - because her process is both emotional and intuitive. She will begin with a blank white canvas as well as a desire to capture an ideal. Then, as she paints, her subjects morph from her envisioned ideal into something she had never imagined. Call it intuition, but the results are stunning: Woods bursting with light and color. Ruptured layers of paint revealing secrets underneath. Cloying shadows. Obscuring mists. Forms floating through a forest…

Steinberg acknowledges that the acclaimed abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell as well as Canada’s groundbreaking art collective, The Group of Seven, influence her work on a daily basis. The Group in particular, several of them survivors of World War One, were among the first artists to celebratethe Canadian landscape, lavishly applying oils and colors in unique and glorious ways. Steinberg calls them “inspired.”

Not all memories endure, but imagination does. We celebrate; we mourn; we forget. These landscapes are a loving and joyous memorial: an invention allowing the artist, and hopefully the viewer, a look back into the woods.

Brian Leach "Disquiet"

The Project Room at the Lois Lambert Gallery presents “Disquiet,” a new body of work by Brian Leach. These colorful drawings reference street art, tattoo culture, and comics. Leach’s riotous swathes of animals, bodies, and patterns fill his surfaces, whether the white of his paper, or the planes of his wooden sculptures.

These works tell a story whose meaning is not always clear, but is deeply personal. Brian Leach is an individualist: his visual language and his life are the product of what cannot be taught in the classroom. Leach had a tumultuous young adulthood after college, often finding himself at odds with the law. He leads a very different lifestyle now, but his distrust of the establishment and instinct to thwart prescribed structure continues in his work. Leach describes faith as one of his driving forces, despite his strong distaste for organized religion.

In many works, calligraphic script weaves in and out of Leach’s imagery, and reveals a quirky narrative, urgent impulses or forlorn musings. Reptilian legs wind around human body parts. Leach uses pencil and India ink in a variety of colors, and these drawings boast intensive line work. Leach is devoted to tattoo art, and is inspired by traditional Japanese and Western tattoos. Lions and tigers à la Sailor Jerry (the renowned tattoo artist and a major influence) stare into rendered stairs that lead nowhere, and tessellations vanish into infinity.

Leach also cites M.C. Escher as a major influence. Like Escher, Leach uses multiple viewpoints and distortion to create impossible formations. His groupings of patterns and figures erupt from the white of his paper, and the resulting negative spaces act as graphic shapes. In other cases, these white spaces are transformed into recognizable imagery and patterns with subtle shading and delicate linework.

Brian Leach has a background in carpentry and has recently taken his two dimensional work in a sculptural direction. Over the course of a year and half, Leach constructed and painted a series of 37 wooden boxes.

“Rejoice” Graphite and India Ink on paper 17” x 14”

The patterns, figures, and animals found in his illustrations now wrap around all six sides of these structures. Like dice, many of these boxes have no clear top or bottom, and one side of the box is always destined to be hidden at its base. These are mysterious objects: the wooden boxes are sealed shut, but these are not hollow shells. The artist places an object inside each of the boxes before permanently closing them; what that item might be remains a secret that the artist chooses to keep.

These illustrations and sculptures are the product of a disregard for convention, but also careful personal exploration. What an artist shares on the surface, whether tattoos, drawings, or sculpture, is visible - what remains inside, a mystery. Brian Leach lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and has shown at several galleries in the United States. This is his first exhibition at the Lois Lambert Gallery.

Arminée Chahbazian "Displacement"

"Tidal Impact" Graphite on layered paper and duralar 15” x 22”

Lois Lambert Gallery presents “Displacement”, new work by painter and sculptor Arminée Chahbazian. In these drawings, life forms and nature’s trappings are set against vast and monumental locations. The artist cites the importance of the contrast between the micro - scale of her organisms and subjects and the macro - scale of their settings. However, the existence of the locations and the animals or objects in these works is fraught with more than just the tension of their contrasting scales. In reality, these pictures depend on disruption. This is a gentle disruption that begs for contemplative consideration. The soft graphite renderings and the buttery layers of duralar give these works a sense of quiet that is then jarringly interrupted. In some works, her subjects penetrate the layers of the duralar, floating under and over the landscape. Like scale, perspective is manipulated to achieve the disarming and dreamlike effect.

Compositionally, these works perform Surrealist poetry, where jellyfish tentacles echo and rhyme with a crashing waterfall. A sea urchin floats in harmony with a waning moon, and a honeycomb mirrors the cracks in a parched earth.

There is a tempo and volume to her work that quietly demands pause, softly insists upon contemplation. The artist considers her verdant Northern Californian location as crucial to her practice. Chahbazian’s titles such as “Tidal Impact” suggest the impending doom of our environment. Chahbazian is deeply concerned with the state of our world and its inhabitants. However, these works are not just cautionary environmentalism, showing life forms under siege from pollution or deforestation. This is not just about nature, it’s about the very nature of these beings. They are not supposed to be where they are, and it’s unclear how they came to be there. They are not invasive, if anything, we get a sense of alarm - something has occurred that has caused them to be removed from what might be their normal residence and has now floated them in a place that is still natural, but unnatural to them. Her subjects’ existence is defined not by their place in the setting, nor are her settings by their role as such, but by the disruptive element.

And while the essence of these subjects has not changed, (the frog is still a frog) we consider these subjects differently as a result.

“Here, It, Comes” Graphite and copper beads on paper and duralar, 22” x 30”

The jellyfish, sea urchin, ants, and other subjects that have been displaced act as points of entry for the viewer. They elicit a sympathetic existential angst in the viewer - these beings are mired in the absurdity of their existence. The environments that Chahbazian has placed her subjects in are just dissimilar enough to to be completely untenable. In fact, the only reason these subjects have for being (within their art - bound existence) is to float ambiguously, to convey meaning through their lack of context. These works are existentially rife, but certainly not meaningless.

The work may have dire weighty themes, but is still displays aesthetic considerations. These works are colorless, but emotionally charged. In some works, Chahbazian uses tiny hand-beading. The glass beads act not as a decorative touch, but as punctuation, drawing attention to the literal threads that tie these layers of meaning together.

Arminée is insistent that this is not despairing work. She views displacement as having the possibility for hope - the possibility for new beginnings. In our current climate, the decision to hope remains our greatest asset, and what defines us as agents of volition.

Arminée Chahbazian studied at Skowhegen, received her BA from Scripps, and her MFA from Yale University. She has been awarded residencies at Artpolis in Provence, France, the Ucross Foundation, in Wyoming. She has shown and is in numerous collections in the US and Europe.

Yvette Brown "Soaring, Stumbling, Surrendering"

Lois Lambert Gallery presents “Soaring, Stumbling, Surrendering” a series of oil on canvas paintings by the artist Yvette Brown. Yvette Brown’s work depicts clothed or robed human figures either in complete inertia, flying, falling or floating thru space.

The luminous figures that Yvette paints emphasize the beauty of the human body in motion, using the fabric of their clothing as a vehicle to accentuate the form and its movement. Yvette’s depiction of people being in a constant state of displacement, either stumbling, soaring, falling or rising is a form of poetry. Providing more than the formal attributes to the work, these figures in transitionary moments can be interpreted as a commentary on the human experience, constantly engaged in not just physical movement but also psychological, emotional or spiritual ups and downs.

Brown breaks the figures into multi-canvas constructions of varying depths in an attempt to contain aspects of the image in the same way that people try to structure and contain the chaos of everyday life. At times the multidimensional surfaces create a flattering image and at times the edges of the canvases create an altered depiction of the twisting body. The multi level canvasses push the visual experience but also aide in bringing people closer to view an unexpected facet of the paintings.

“Candace” Oil on multi - level canvas 24” x 48”

Yvette’s work is in direct conversation with painting styles from the high renaissance era. The draped fabric on the paintings is a fundamental character that provides a luscious quality to the work. In all of Yvette’s paintings the fabric resembles the draping of garments found on the deities depicted in paintings by Michelangelo or Titian. It’s through the use of that visual reference that Yvette’s work highlights beauty and elevates the people in her paintings into majestic beings.

Yvette’s influences include Lord Frederic Leighton, a 19th century neoclassicist painter, who was also influenced by high-renaissance artists as well as Issey Miyake, Kehinde Wiley, Lee Bontecou, Caravaggio, and graffiti artists.

Yvette M. Brown is a Los Angeles based artist. Brown has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout California, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Brown received her education at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, starting as a fashion illustrator before she committed full time to her painting career. “My recipe for my paintings are luscious oil paints, add in a dash of headstands on skateboards, a glimpse of a dream, jumping out of an airplane into the mix, maybe some bumps and falls of life’s offerings.”

Rikki Niehaus "Swedish Landscapes"

“Reservations” Oil on Canvas, 36” x 48”

Lois Lambert Gallery presents the work of artist Rikki Niehaus in her ongoing series, “Swedish Landscapes”, a collection of portraits posed inside the home-interiors of an IKEA store. This collection of oil paintings may seem benign, but they are in fact eerily engaging and humorously critical.

The suited gentleman who serves as the subject of the paintings is a perfect fit for the setting. In fact, he is just another shopper, stopping to sit on a chair or a sofa. The series serves not only as a critique of consumer culture, but as a mirror to its artificiality and the illusions that we accept and desire, as reality.

Rikki Niehaus is a figurative painter and portraitist who works in oil on canvas. Rikki states: “Painting is, for me, a direct connection to the past, a chance to ‘time-travel’ and relate immediately to the whole of artistic tradition that preceded me.” Often Niehaus will compose her paintings in conversation with an iconic painting in the canon of Western Art history. In the painting “Reece Mews Reno”, the title refers to Francis Bacon’s studio, located in Reese Mews, Kensington. The shapes of the cube frame, circular carpet and seated figure mirror Bacon’s portrait of Pope Innocent X.

In the painting, “Green and Pleasant Land”, the viewer sees a man dressed in a grey suit sitting on a green mid- century chair. It’s a convincing early 1960’s portrait of an executive leisurely sitting in office or study. It’s not until after an initial few seconds that one recognizes the plastic price tag for $149 hanging off the chair. The viewer then becomes aware of the reality that this is not a home or office, but the inside of an IKEA showroom.

It becomes obvious that not only is the man in the fake living room posturing: everyone outside of the painting may also be posturing to suit their surroundings.

“There is a sense of potential in each little ‘room’, this could be our home in some place other than where we are now”, says Rikki. That sense of hope is part of the allure of the megastore. It is the idea that life can be significantly improved if you purchase the sliding door closet kit or the modular storage unit. Niehaus’ own ambivalence towards IKEA and consumerism at large is present in the work, but not without humor.

“Eclipse” Oil on Canvas, 36” x 48”

The model for the character in the paintings is improv performer Ryan Timmreck. Timmreck was as much model as performer: his facial expressions and mannerisms brought an emotional charge to the series. However, his character often displays a blank expression that suggests that he is never quite happy in his environment. For Niehaus, the scenes depict a character from a science fiction movie trapped inside IKEA’s showrooms, reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode. As in the Twilight Zone, there is always an unforeseen consequence-in return for living in a world of perfectly decorated organization, the character is doomed to an eternity of isolation, trapped in a warehouse store showroom. Science Fiction offers us apt metaphors for our reality. Perfection is unattainable; perfection is not for sale. Bourgeois materialism is a trap. Niehaus likens this to the dream of fresh furniture in a neatly curated space that is shattered when Ikea shoppers descend to the flat-pack warehouse. The promise of orderly perfection and fresh beginnings is replaced by profound disappointment when shoppers must negotiate transportation, assemblage, packaging, and then are forced to see their purchases in the stark reality of their imperfect homes.

Rikki Niehaus is based in Los Angeles and has participated in many exhibitions in California. Niehaus studied at Art Center, Otis School of Art and Design and LAAFA. Rikki’s work can be found in various personal collections in the US and UK.

Martin Bruinsma "Noir"

The Lois Lambert Gallery presents “Noir”, a new body of work by Martin Bruinsma. In these paintings and drawings, Martin Bruinsma has adopted the visual aesthetic of classic Film Noir, staging shadowed scenes with mysterious subjects. Martin Bruinsma asserts: “When one studies history and reads literature, it’s fascinating how we as humans are so unchanged. We are driven by emotions, both lofty and evil.”

Before studying art, Bruinsma studied psychobiology, the study of the biological processes that effect behavior. Bruinsma’s interest in behavior continues in his artistic practice. In “Noir”, Bruinsma explores expressions of masculinity and power. His subjects’ body language suggests that these are ideals whose embodiment can have dangerous results. Conflict, fatalism, and menace were what earned the the genre of Film Noir its name.

Bruinsma uses impasto and thin washes of acrylic paint on his canvases. Bruinsma concedes that the role of art and literature was often to codify behavior. Our cautionary tales and embattled heroes reveal the ways in which our own behavior is culturally prescribed. The themes of deceit, betrayal, desire and revenge found in classical mythology dominate the genre of noir. This resonates with the artist in today’s cultural and political climate. Bruinsma reflects: “Film Noir captured that sense of the system being rigged against the little guy. These days it feels like a return to that situation.” Power is misused, and power is taken.

“Jack of Hearts” Acrylic on Canvas, 30” x 40”

Bruinsma is careful to establish his paintings and drawings as situated in a time separate from our own. Their dreamlike quality and painterly ambiguity establish them not as recordings of historical events, but as a 20th century mythology with persisting relevance.

Bruinsma, influenced by Edward Hopper, has a deep repect for stillness. But while Hopper’s pervasive sense of quiet is often one of calm, Bruinsma’s darkened canvases seem like crime scenes. The massive classic cars sit motionless, obscured in shadows. Traditional iconographic masculinity and the symbols of its virility loom, but they haunt, not threaten. Bruinsma emphasizes a man’s descent down the stairs, highlighting his excitement in contrast to the darkness of his descent. Another man glances downward with a dejected expression before closing the scissor-gate door on an old-fashioned elevator. A suited figure emerges from the darkness to be cut in half by glaring beams of headlights. As seen in classic Film Noir, the displays and struggles for masculine power can be as futile as they are destructive. Our dark impulses persist, but so does the crucial need to explore and understand what drives them.

This is Martin Bruinsma’s first exhibition with the Lois Lambert Gallery. He received his BFA in Illustration from the Art Center College of Design and studied psychobiology at UCLA.

Simon Berson "Brain Candy"

Lois Lambert gallery presents in the Project Room “Brain Candy,” a series of never before seen drawings and collages by Simon Berson. These phantasmagorical collages combine trade-magazine cut outs of machinery with the artist’s own drawings. “Brain Candy” is filled with barren lands inhabited by colorful amorphous and robotic beings. Axles, gears, sockets, drill bits, and light bulbs meet bulbous shapes. Berson calls this work Industrial Surrealism. This is the world found inside the mind of Simon Berson.

Berson begins with his sketchbook. He draws soft and swooping organic forms colored in with looping strokes of colored pencil. Once finished, he selects drawings to cut out. Berson supported his family by working as a technical writer and illustrator. He still finds himself fascinated by images of technology, and subscribes to a variety of trade magazines. These offer him the mechanical imagery that Berson cuts out to combine with his drawings, and acheive an unexpected effect. The cold metal and plastic in the photographs make a playful juxtaposition against the soft colors and waxy texture of his colored pencils. Berson allows the pieces to grow organically, improvising with different combinations of cutouts until satisfied with the results.

“Level Up” Collage on Paper, 20” x 30”

At times, these collaged images combine seamlessly. It’s not until one notices the change in texture or range of color that one can detect where Berson’s drawings end and the magazine pictures begin. In other instances, various technological cutouts seem to form a convincing apparatus, but are interrupted by his billowing drawings. Berson’s chief objective is to “make the mind wonder and wander.” Serendipity is one of his favorite tools.

Berson was an avid science fiction fan as a child. These collages are not unlike science fiction: they use technology that exists to inspire the unearthly. This is a theme that is a constant in Berson’s life. He has taken the trappings of his professional life and turned them into truly unique works of art. This series is proof that inspiration can be found in the most unlikely places. What might seem stifling to some is deliverance to Berson: “The work is about the unfettered freedom to explore.”

Simon Berson studied at the Pratt Institute and received his BA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has been in numerous exhibitions since the 1970’s in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago.

Ky Anderson, Meg Lipke & Vicki Sher "Paper Giants L.A."

Lois Lambert Gallery presents Paper Giants LA, by artists Ky Anderson, Meg Lipke and Vicki Sher. Although each of these artists maintain individual studios and have individual exhibitions they have joined together as a means of investigating and maintaining individual ideas within a shared space and format. The only requirement for each artist is that they work on 72” x 60” thick printmaking paper, which allows each artist to explore the nature of works on paper and the scale of the piece. The installation of Paper Giants is intentionally casual. The work is mostly unframed and pinned only from the top mimicking the informality of their studio and highlighting the connection the three artists have behind the scenes. The artists intention is to continue this collaboration into the future, evolving alongside each artist’s practice, and reflecting their individual developments over time.

The artists regularly discuss their works’ progression. This communication and mutual awareness is seen as a vital part of the project. As each artist moves from their own personal work to their collaboration, the exhibition’s parameters become the formula for an osmosis of creativity and inspiration with out sacrificing the integrity of each artists aesthetic. The format allows for their mutual exploration into content, form, and materials. Each artist incorporates materials from their individual studio practices: Anderson draws and paints; Lipke batiks and draws; Sher paints, draws and collages. The works line up side-by-side, acknowledging association while maintaining distinct voices. Anderson’s pieces could be recognized by her bluish and greenish palette. Sher’s work becomes a place of pause between Lipke’s and Anderson’s, with her use of white space and blocks of pastel colors. Lipke’s work offers bursts of complex color combinations like splashes of orange on a mauve wash, or a bright aqua blue composition with bold grid over all of it.

Ky Anderson, “Knocked Down” Acrylic on paper 72" x 60"

KY ANDERSON lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Anderson’s paintings and works on paper have been exhibited all over the US, Canada and Europe, with recent solo exhibitions in New York and Missouri along with numerous group shows and art fairs. Her work has been shown at public institutions including The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and Moore College of Art. Anderson’s work is in the permanent collection of The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and Kansas University Medical Center as well as many private collections in the US and beyond. Anderson received her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute.

Meg Lipke, “Stanley Road Snug” Acrylic on paper 72" x 60"

MEG LIPKE’S work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has been reviewed in Art in America, The Village Voice, New York Times, Art Forum and many online publications. She splits her time and studio practice between Bushwick, Brooklyn and Ghent, in upstate New York. Lipke received her MFA from Cornell University and has taught at SUNY Albany, Cornell University, and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Lipke’s work is in private collections in LA, NYC, Kansas City, Paris and London and the Ahmanson Collection in Irvine, CA.

Vicki Sher, “Rainbow River” Acrylic and collage on paper 72" x 60"

VICKI SHER has exhibited her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions through out the US. Sher’s work has been shown in public institutions including the Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA and The Phillips Museum at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA. She is the recipient of a MacDowell Colony Fellowship award and a VCCA Fellowship award. She has participated in art fairs, including VOLTA Basel, NADA and PULSE. Sher received her BFA from Cornell University, and her MFA from the University of Iowa. Sher’s work is included in the Temple University Collection in Pennsylvania and other private collections.

The discussions and artwork for Paper Giants began in 2013. Previous exhibitions, at Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA, The Volland Store, Alma KS, and Proto Gallery, Hoboken, NJ all included similar installations of the large drawings filling the gallery walls. Paper Giants LA marks the fourth exhibition of this ongoing project.

Erica Entrop “I, Voyeur”

“Blue Line” Acrylic on canvas 40" x 30"

Lois Lambert Gallery is pleased to present Erica Entrop’s “I, Voyeur”

“I, Voyeur” is based on a series of images that Entrop has captured while riding through public transportation in Los Angeles. As a commuter, she would spend two to three hours a day on the bus or train and even longer waiting for their arrival. As Entrop rode with the same people day after day, she observed those people going to the same places. She never spoke or engaged with them. Entrop explains, “All of us are on our own tracks, playing out individual narratives. I was drawn to certain people in this travel routine that seemed almost like characters in a play, always having some element that was interesting or different about them. I started taking their pictures, secretly capturing moments from their lives.”

Entrop is fascinated by the routines that make up daily life and the fragility of those routines; long dull moment broken by someone speaking too loudly; private conversations overheard; quick gazes or direct stares are either returned or avoided. Each interruption freezes the perpetual nature of routine, very much like a photograph brings to a sudden halt the moment captured. It is in the instances where patterns are disrupted that Erica can really see what is there, instead of what is always assumed to be there. Every piece is based on a photograph taken of the commuters present along Entrop’s travels. The ubiquity of cellphones allows her to freely capture their images. The freedom in documenting her surroundings is special to the metro. She explains, “Even if I do get caught, the rule of keeping to yourself in public transportation is so embedded in us, that very few people are willing to be confrontational over it.”

“Expo Line” Acrylic on canvas 40" x 30"

For the artist, the feeling is one of intrusion, of voyeurism. The viewer is being asked to look at and engage with these seemingly mundane moments rather than the social norm of casting a passing glance. In many cases, there is an individual that is recognizing the audience, further dissolving the fourth wall and making the viewer a participant in this ordinary, but layered and textured moment of life. “Red Line”, Acrylic on canvas, 40” x 30” “Expo Line”, Acrylic on canvas, 40” x 30”

Growing up in Roswell, New Mexico, Erica was inspired by New Mexican artist Peter Hurd. His portraiture was in many homes and all of the public buildings. Entrop’s interest in capturing the individual and daily life stems from his work.

Erica Entrop is a graduate of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has shown in group and solo exhibitions all over the country. Erica was a participant in the Land Arts of the American West Program in 2009. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

‘MOLDING A HARD ROCK’ @ LOIS LAMBERT GALLERY

by Joseph Hazani

A Dilettante, January 17, 2018

Rodrigo Branco held an opening titled Molding A Hard Rock at Lois Lambert Gallery. Aside from the bright-eyed, apple-dunking plunge into the primary color yellow which sparkled wonder because of its paradoxical audacity, the portraits Mr. Branco painted bring forward an unheralded technique: the broad brushstrokes of facial obscurity.

None of his portraits go unspared. We have the facial obliteration of each which perhaps obviates our uncontrollable biological and psychological responses to faces and instead allows us to see the essence

of the person being captured. Plainly speaking, this would be their personality, but retaining a higher treatment allows us to speak more philosophically to the aesthetic efforts. Granted, there is still enough human here to stimulate apish behavioral responses, but we do not view the persons instinctually in terms of fight-or-flight but rather we view them with curiosity and wonder. And perhaps it is this response which captivated Mr. Branco in expressing his profound discovery: that this wonder is reflective of the utterly infinite variegations of human living, reflexive with our own act of being human.

Lastly, strikingly none of the portraits feel blemished, as if some erratic vandal defaced them. The defacement, then, is done harmoniously with the interpretation of the compositions presented here.

As for his more magisterial compositions, they are as deliciously dynamic with their colors as the choice of yellow prior. The reddish hues dance around the canvas a la Matisse, with as much of a spirit to succor an affirmation to living life, however treacherous its path harms – with a yea. They are reminiscent of graffiti pop art, of Venice Beach USA; an ethereal verve toward worshipping Dionysus for his gifts of spontaneous order. For the compositions may at best resemble something cathedral in one instance, yet never actually resembling anything manmade. They are made from dreams, the cotton of imagination, to bludgeon an ordinary life with simply the inconceivable.

In summary, this was a terrific showing and a terrific new artist to have witnessed.

Frank Oriti "Material World"

Lois Lambert Gallery presents “Material World”, a series of paintings from artist Frank Oriti. This collection focuses on an exploration of not only the object, but the materials and the methodology that creates the reality. Originally trained as a figure painter, Oriti became fascinated and more engaged with the clothing than the subject. As a result the artist now uses the article of clothing as a from of portraiture that represents the person who wears it.

Each fabric, whether plastic, denim or leather, requires a different approach and technique. Oriti experiments with paint application and scale in order to communicate to the viewer the reality of each item. The challenge of navigating these obstacles in order to give life to the weave and weight of these inanimate objects is one of Oriti’s motivating factors in the creation of these pieces.

Frank is recreating a visual history of how these fabrics rip, tear, scuff, fade, breakdown and evolve over time igniting the nostalgic feelings that are associated with the items. While Frank is drawn to items that have a relevance to his own history, the story the viewer brings to the work is more important to him.

Oriti’s concern is with today’s millennial working class and expressing who they are through what they look like and what they wear. Once tattoo’s that were relegated to service men (marines, navy and army) are now part of that working class identity. Non conventional haircuts and hair dyes, clothing, and other symbols of the disenfranchised are common.

Frank is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and has an MFA from theUniversity of Ohio. His work has been shown in galleries across the country and was included in London’s National Gallery BP Portrait Award Exhibition in 2015.

David Furman "Current Works"

Lois Lambert Gallery presents “Stories from Reality” a new series from sculptor David Furman. Drawing inspiration from common objects, David invites the viewer to have an individual experience with each item, bringing their own history

Furman explains, “I use clay, this incredibly amorphous mass of primordial material, that can become anything one skilled in the ceramic process wishes it to be. I hand build, make molds, both press and slip cast parts, I alter, slice, cut, attach, squash, and articulate forms until I arrive at my destination.” Furman has been accused of being pretty obsessive about his process. David explains, “I want it to have beauty and clarity about it.”

David Furman is Professor Emeritus at two of the Claremont Colleges in southern California, where he taught for 35 years, and occupied the Peter and Gloria Gold Endowed Chair from 2004 to 2007. He's received National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and Fulbright fellowships as well as the Irvine Foundation Enterprise Fellowship and in 2001 he received the Getty Foundation Fellowship for Service Learning in the Arts. Furman’s work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Geneva Costa "Transfiguration"

 

Lois Lambert Gallery Presents “Transfiguration”, a series of oil painting from Geneva Costa.

Costa’s works are focused on censorship and identity in relation to her own experiences and to the larger plight of women in society. While personal narratives propel the creation of each piece, they are allegorical in imagery and symbolism to allow the audience to interpret and experience each piece on their own terms.

Geneva utilizes oil paint and traditional painting techniques to underscore the biased representations of women in an historical context with special attention to the treatment of the female form throughout art history. In each work, Costa blends the autobiographical with current political and religious themes to parallel the historic narratives commonplace in classic oil portraiture.

In this series, Geneva uses obfuscation of the female face as commentary on imposed identity and the censorship of thought. For instance, the painting Divest is painted in a manner that identifies the subject matter as a woman, yet the face, her most identifying feature, has been censored as a commentary on current political events, societal views of the female, and religion’s role in the depiction of women.

Geneva Costa has a BFA in Studio art from Montana State University and an MFA in Visual Arts from California State University, Northridge. She has shown across the country in solo and group shows. Her work was included in the collection of the Chancellor of the California State Universities. She currently lives and works in South Dakota.

Other Works from Artist Chris Francis

Chris Francis's exhibition "Open Floor Plan: Wearable Architecture and Functional Design" currently on display at the Lois Lambert Gallery contains amazing pieces inspired by the artists of the Bauhaus. Let us take a look back at the earlier works that have led him to create this fantastic new collection.

"Shoe Machine" mixed media size 7

"Tower Blocks" mixed media size 7

"Towers in the Sky" Mixed media size 7

"Welcome Knives" Mixed media size 7

A Walk Through with Chris Francis

Artist Chris Francis took Assistant Director, Maria Guerrero, through his latest exhibition "Open Floor Plan: Wearable Architecture and Functional Design" discussing his sources of inspiration and methods of execution. These are wood blocks and they are dedicated to Josef Albers he taught at the Bauhaus and he taught at the Black Mountain College and he taught interaction of color. So what it is, is an optical experiment with the eye so the colors, at every point on the shoe it is a different color, but this is the same color as this in here but you can't see it here because those to ends aren't together because there is an optical illusion that happens  but this is the the same color as this. Because of these color fields being different it looks as though this is darker but they are the exact same color.  Josef Albers was experimenting with that, really cool experiments, but  it's really fun to play with. It is based off a traditional Japanese Geta, the tradition actually originated in China and these are functional- you can wear them.

As are these, people have walked around in these and everything. It is hard to walk in but it is actually comfortable I've been told.

Really? Is this a size 7 too?

This is a 7, but it is in a range, it might be an 8. There is no true way to know. It was built off of a 7 last, a shoe form. It is held together in a strange way because I was playing with, the entire idea of this piece was simplicity and furniture design. Seeing if it could be a wearable concept. There is a lot of furniture inspiration here.

The concepts that you would apply to furniture, but applying them to a shoe?

Yes, so the stainless steel was actually bent in a garage in east L.A. We bent it. I found it and went over to my buddy's shop, they make low-riders there, and they helped me out because I paid them off to watch the shop. I am not that tough, so they are cool. So they helped me out and bent it. This took so many prototypes to get this cut it could be held together with just resistance. So the entire shoe  is only held together with its own resistance. It becomes an act of architecture. The same principles I used are in buildings and in industrial design. There is a slot that the piece goes in, there is no glue no nails and it is strong enough to completely support someones weight.

Counter strength when you're walking to hold itself together?

And the idea of this also came from the Geta too. The fulcrum when your walking- your toe is forward and it makes a rocking motion, you'll see on a traditional Geta there will be a wood block further back right at the joint line in the foot and that's how you get the momentum to walk. So these are actually functional. Modern chairs for your feet.

I love the idea of applying these concepts that people have mulled over for centuries about one item, say furniture and applying it to the shoe.

I make real shoes. I do make stage performance wear, lots of bands and stuff. I get so board doing it. There is no art in this shoe- I could go buy it at Nordstroms. Theres no real process of interpretation with those. For this, I like to take it out of that and do things that are more for the imagination, more fun. Maybe they could even be funny. What is the potential failure of a device, this is a total fail as a shoe but in some ways it's not because you can walk on glass and its completely structurally sound.

To be continued...

An Interview with Phyllis Kudder Sullivan

In the course of preparing for a show, we get the privilege of sitting down with the artist and learning about their process and sources of inspiration. This fall we spoke with Phyllis about her upcoming exhibition "Vortex with Gold Line Series"

1. Tell me how your relatonship with art started and did you start (as a) ceramicist? I can’t remember a time when I was not passionate about art making. My ceramic career started as an undergraduate in a required ceramic class where I fell in love with the material. Primarily a painter focused on two-dimensional patterns and textures of surface, clay introduced me to the realm of structure.

2. Where did you study? More important than where I studied was the ceramicist with whom I studied. Professor Rose Krebs was a noted Bauhaus-trained ceramic artist. She was my MFA mentor at Long Island University, a friend and a source of inspiration and wisdom.

3. Tell me about your philosophy or the philosophies that you follow as an artist? I make time for play in the studio. It’s not easy, but having the time and space to enjoy working, or just thinking, without expectation of a finished body of work is a gift I give to myself. Artist residencies, national or international, take me out of the familiar and are a critical part of my creative process. I find that new experiences generate ideas that can germinate over time and, sometimes, lead to new avenues of exploration.

4. Tell me about the series that we will be showing in your upcoming exhibition? My Vortex With Gold Line Series is an extension of the Vortex Series. In the Vortex Series the shifting grids of my organic net-like structures completely envelop the inner space without giving any apparent indication of where the coils of clay start or end. Like the Klein boJle, a mathematical construct, my net-like sculptures blur the border between inside and outside, giving the illusion that I am constructing with voids. And it is the volume, the emptiness within the walls, that dark, mysterious living space, which is at the heart of my work. In the new Vortex With Gold Line Series I pay tribute to the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi. After multiple firings for strength and color I apply a gold leaf composite, not to mend, but to draw attention to a single thread.

5. What would you like people to think or feel when they see your artwork? Intrigue. I would hope that my work resonates with people on a deeper level. I’d like viewers to take away a sense of space as a tangible that can evoke memories of place.

Phyllis Kudder Sullivan "Vortex with Gold Line Series"

Lois Lambert Gallery presents “Vortex with Gold Line Series” a series of ceramic sculptures from artist Phyllis Kudder Sullivan.

For the past 25 years Phyllis Kudder Sullivan has developed and honed the technique of interlacing clay coils to construct organic forms whose undulating “woven” walls completely envelop the inner space. Her fabrication method brings an over-and-under system associated with weaving of textiles into the third dimension.

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The open grid of her net like constructions allows visual access to the energized interior space and gives the illusion of constructing with voids. It is the volume, the emptiness between the walls that is the heart of her work. In the Vortex With Gold Line Series Sullivan pays tribute to the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi. After multiple firings for strength and color she applies a gold leaf composite, not to mend, but to draw attention to a single thread.

Phyllis Kudder Sullivan is a professor of art at Long Island University in New York. Her work has shown internationally and across the United States and she has been awarded multiple artist residencies around the world.