ART REFLECTS OR TRANSFORMS WHAT WE SEE. IT IS A RESPONSE TO A VISUAL WORLD USING IMAGINATION.
I am a conceptual artist, inspired by the physical and emotional world around me. I use my visual and perceptual experiences to create something original that stimulates interactions of the sensations of self, desire, fear, love, hate, etc. I want the viewer to be drawn in to the emotion of my art, regardless of whether these works are representational, surreal, or abstract.
My earlier pieces were done to capture what I saw, and/or to make a statement. My more recent works are more complex and bizarre. They are apt to prod the viewer to think about what they are seeing and perhaps ask themselves, "What is that all about?"
I have not had any "formal" training in art, but have, since my late thirties, taken adult education classes and workshops with students and teachers who have taken an interest in my work and critiqued them in order for me to grow and improve. To give credit where credit is due, some of these talented and patient instructors were, Ellen Diamond, Joan Lazarus, Angela Lamanno, Irv Abram, Milton Block, Eva Ulmann, Naomi Diracles, Marilyn Kestin, Nelly Romero, Marcia Levitan, Mary Mendoza, Reina Cohen, Mark Josloff, Ludy Perez, Maria Conte and Eva Berger.
My work has been displayed in the Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery in Dix Hills, The Petite Gallery in Huntington, Lazy Days in Long Beach, Circulo de la Hispanidad in Long Beach, the Hewlett Library, Lynbrook Library, Long Beach Library, West End Library in Long Beach, the Wisser Library at NYIT, Unitarian Church in Manhasset, and Garden City, Freeport Recreation Center Gallery, Greis Park, Temple Emanuel in Long Beach and other venues.
Artist Statement
Although I did not have any college training or a formal education in art, art has always been my avocation. The appreciation of art and art history led me to experimenting in the field of art myself. I started taking adult education classes and informal art workshops.
I began with charcoal, then oils and followed with acrylic. I have tried pastels, watercolor, colored pencil, collage and Zentangle. Mixed media seems to be the right fit for me.
My taste in art has also changed. My love of representational art and the impressionists has developed into a passion for nonrepresentational art, the expressionists and the surrealists.
My goals, however, have remained the same. As an artist, I want to create pieces of work that express my feelings and foster feelings in the viewer. I hope I reach this goal with the work that I am showing in this exhibit.