CHELSEA ART: The New Thirty-Something Block ... - ARTisSpectrum

ARTisSpectrumVol. 17, May 2007The Chelsea PerspectiveChelsea Art: The New Thirty-Something Block PartyThe Healing Art of Creativity:Combating Chronic Stress and DepressionArt That Saves Our World:The Photographic Imagery of Dr. Joe Zammit-LuciaGet Over It! ...or... No More Self DoubtArtistic Practices: Expecting the UnexpectedProfiles of Contemporary Art and Artists1 ArtisSpectrum

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ARTisSpectrumP u b l i s h e rAgora GalleryE d i t o r - i n-Ch i e fAngela Di BelloA r t Di r e c t o rErin O’NeillS t a f f Wr i t e r sAaron DelandMartin DavidKrista SykesStephen BraccoAlison RogersCarole MerodyGreggory MooreAlex JeffreysKaren SchwartzShetia (Ty) MaysRobin ShreevesStephanie NikolopoulosCharlotte Rains DixonCarla BargerSofi ThanhauserZhanna VeytsC o n t r i b u t i n g Wr i t e r sDonna L. ClovisBrett Weber, Ph.D.Lynda PogueE d i t o r i a l As s i s t a n t sMary Ellen HendersonGiovanna MessiArtisSpectrum provides a forum for artistsand art professionals. Articles expressthe opinion and knowledge of the authorsand not necessarily that of the magazine’smanagement. Artist profiles are written by staffwriters or the artists unless otherwise noted.© All copyrights are reserved by the authors.The copyrights of all published artwork areretained by the artists. Reproduction of anypublished material is prohibited without thewritten permission of the magazine’s publisher.Suggestions for future articles are welcome.Any topic submitted in writing by an artist, artprofessional or professionals in the service of theart community will be considered for publication.Features8 - Chelsea Art: The New Thirty-Something Block Party14 - Get Over It! ...or... No More Self-Doubt16 - The Healing Art of Creativity: Combating Chronic Stress and Depression26 - Art That Saves Our World: The Photographic Imagery of Dr. Joe Zammit-Lucia34 - Artistic Practices: Expecting the UnexpectedPainting by Max Razdow “The Softening Sky” Oil, acrylic, airbrush on wood panel 48” x 72” 2007Profiles4 Andrea Amelung5 Moazzam Ali6 Anja Schüssler6 Mohammed Yasin Saddique7 Osama Khatlan10 Dr. George Koemtzopoulos12 Giannis Stratis13 Gisela Wåhlström15 Sophia Angelis18 Nava Revital18 Susanna Bertolacci19 Keith P. Burnett19 Iva Milanova20 Joel Carpenter20 Jan Wheeler21 Norma RGF21 Patricia Valencia Carstens22 Jascur22 Nacera Guerin23 Andrew Cooper23 Nelida Kalanj24 Michael Martino24 C. Drummond24 Enton Panariti25 Anya Rubin25 Naru Yoshida25 Dr. Gregory Allen Page28 John Nieman28 Vyacheslav Shevchuk28 Ola Rosling28 Michael Hibbard29 Roger Renard29 Naveed Wazir Ali30 Maureen Oliver30 Caroline Mars30 Atousa Foroohary30 John R. Math31 Paul Gu31 Roni Pinto32 Elie Bou Zeidan32 Valentina Sanina33 Carolina de Panfilis33 ERC33 Hubert Cance33 Sally West35 Paula J. Tymchuk35 Jolanta Paterek35 Caroline Valenti35 L’OR38 Panos Evangelopoulos38 Anne Elisabeth Hogh39 Patricia Brintle39 Ilona van HoekARTisSpectrum Magazine 530 West 25th St., NY, NY 10001 www.ArtisSpectrum.com 212.226.4151 info@ArtisSpectrum.com3 ArtisSpectrum

Andrea AmelungRote Pigmente 2 Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas 43”x 43” All Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas 36.5”x 36.5”German-born artist Andrea Amelung is deeply devoted to theexperimentation of process. She has developed a specialmethod that incorporates a variety of mediums to produce intensecolors that shimmer and radiate from the canvas.Amelung is a traveler at heart, with journeys and extendedstays in many locales around the world. These experiences haveserved her well as an artist, collecting ideas, materials, and skillsalong the way. Since 1995, she has studied and painted in variousartist studios, master classes, and workshops, efforts that havebroadened her understanding of experimental processes and thepractice of painting as a whole.The extraordinary results of Amelung’s diligent efforts areeasy to discern. Her work, completed in a contemporary abstractexpressionist style, is stunning to behold. Her achievements withtexture produce a weathered, time-tested appearance to the applicationof paint. Other works are approached with gradations of aparticular hue, to allow for the richest expression of the dominantcolor. Geometric forms and gestural lines are scrawled into oron top of the paint, evoking both modern and ancient art forms.Amelung will often employ raw pigments combined with unusualpainting media such as modeling plastic, sand, ash, and marbledust. Her superb layering effects are also achieved by applyingwashes of beeswax and then scraping sections to reveal the layersbelow, providing a potent sense of texture and depth.Beyond testing the limits of the painting process, art for Amelungis a means to express emotions that are not easy to verbalizeor represent. Abstract art is a visceral, instantly accessible planeof discourse with her audience. “Art is a means for me to capturedifferent moods and situations from my life,” she states. “Mypaintings hope to inspire, make curious, deliver surprises–and radiateoptimism, positive associations and joy of life.” Amelunghas exhibited and sold to private collectors around Europe andshe has recently acquired representation in New York. She livesand works in Berlin.Website: http://www.artvonamelung.de4 ArtisSpectrum

MoazzamAliMoazzam Ali is a supremely talented watercolor artistwith a flair for distinctive portraiture and spellbindinglandscapes. With an attentive eye for detail his gesturalstrokes compose delightful textures of water, wood, grass,flesh, and fabric in a seemingly effortless approach so vitalto a successful watercolor artist. Ali’s portraiture reachesout and captures the inner essence of his subject, framed bybeautiful, flowing garments that dissolve into the backgroundtowards the outer edges of the piece.Ali is a master of watercolor painting, taking a mediumknown for it’s difficult nature and making the paints do preciselyas he wishes. His decisive nature lends confidence tohis art form. “It was thought till now that there is no flexibilityin watercolor medium, no change could be made,and it’s a very hard and difficult medium,” he states. “I havecondemned this philosophy; my work proves that watercoloris a very flexible medium.” Ali’s knowledge of watercolorsis immediately apparent, the washes retaining transparencymeld together for exquisite colorations and intrepid linework stretches over these delicate areas. He is particularlyadept at catching the dance of light off particular surfaces.His landscapes depicting mountainous regions reveal crispnessin the air; light shines through the clouds to radiate offof the fresh, white snow and clear mountain lakes.Woman with Pitcher 1 Watercolor on Paper 29”x 21”Ali was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. He attendedthe Karachi School of Art, and upon graduation was awardedthe Gold Medal for his achievements. Moazzam went on towork as an Art Director in a prominent advertising agencybefore turning his efforts toward the educational sector. Hegained experience as the principal at an art school in Karachifor four years before founding the Sindh College of Art, Designand Architecture. With a formidable list of accomplishments,Ali’s artwork has been commissioned and purchasedby establishments such as the Sheraton, Avari, and Days-InnHotels, the National Art Gallery in Pakistan, the President’sHouse in Islamabad, in addition to a variety of embassies,colleges, and governmental buildings. His work has beenfeatured in many solo exhibitions and he has participated incountless group shows. Moazzam Ali has studios in Karachi,New York, and Canada.Website: http://www.moazzamali.comMoazzam Ali is one of the selected artists from the 2007Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, juried by TinaKukielski, of the Whitney Museum, New York City.Woman with Pitcher 3 Watercolor on Paper 29”x 42”5 ArtisSpectrum

Anja SchüsslerDemonstrating, in tangible form, how individuals create andreinforce their own reality through the activity of interpretation,Anja Schüssler’s enigmatic images are like mirrors, subtlyand exactly responsive to the mind-set of the viewer. Encouragingeach individual to “experience his own fear, become aware ofhis own desire” and “find his own truth” in her paintings—as wellas in the world at large—Schüssler implicitly guides her audienceto examine responses to her art in light of their own interiorrealities and outward projections. Like Narcissus enraptured byhis own reflection, the viewer is confronted by an emotionallycompelling yet insoluble visual riddle, as in The Arrival. Here,a faceless female figure in bestial pose, uncannily reminiscent ofWilliam Blake’s Nebuchadnezzar, seeps inexplicable blacknessfrom her face and palms.What one sees in this intentional void might well be the true‘mirror image’ of the self, a projection of one’s own fantasy orshadow. Through the juxtaposition of soft colors, and strong, inkycontour lines, Schüssler highlights the binary nature of ordinaryconsciousness and the duality of existence. Casting models as noless than archetypal forces, she attempts to reconcile the rationaland intuitive, the seen and the unseen, the sacred and profane—through mythic representations of human paradox and contradiction.Like medieval scribes who believed that gazing into a mirrorThe Arrival Chalk and Graphite on Paper 19.5”x 27.5”as they wrote would ensure “that their sight may not be dimmed,”German artist, Anja Schüssler, uses the mirror of her own perceptionto alight dim corridors of consciousness where truths maybe obscured but exist nonetheless. Visionary artist and skilledengraver of hand-carved cameos, Anja Schüssler currently livesand works in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, famous for it’s design andmanufacturing of precious stones and jewelry.Website: http://www.as-artwork.deMohammed YasinSaddiqueFor a self-taught painter of just 30 years of age, MohammedYasin Saddique has generated an impressive body of artworkthat includes portraits, nudes, landscapes, and cityscapes. Mostof Saddique’s portraits are colorful, playful interpretations thatoften invoke the cubist tradition. Bold black boundary markersdemarcate both sections of his painting and sections of his subjects,which suggest both depth and texture. His subjects emergefrom the canvas as colorful patchwork quilts or paper machécomposites.Saddique’s portraits are arguably his most evocative works. Tothe sides of his subject’s head, Saddique will often include crosssectionsof his model’s profile. Here, Saddique experiments withanthropomorphic shapes. Some viewers, for example, mightdiscern an elephant’s face and trunk flanking Nadia’s face in hisportrait of the same name. Interestingly—perhaps even tellingly—Saddique’sown portrait and that of his wife are strikinglydifferent than his other portraits. The former are virtually blackand-whitecompositions. The faces of Saddique and his wiferesemble white mannequin heads faintly tinged by yellows andreds. They are as works in progress or model faces to be moldedsometime later into something new.Head of Naz Pastel on Paper 15”x 11”Saddique’s works can be found in private collections in variousEuropean countries, the United States, England, India, and Pakistan.Saddique lives and works in London and Pakistan.Website: http://www.eyeoftheart.com6 ArtisSpectrum

Osama Khatlannew perspective is something to be treasured, and OsamaA Khatlan’s works are full of new and unique perspectiveson the notes of humanity. There is an indefinable musicalityabout his work, which in an abstract fashion captures the essencesof human experience.This unique artist is a native of Iraq who now residesin New York, and has exhibited around the globe in Baghdad,London, New York, and cities throughout Italy. He wastrained at the Florence State Art Institute, and took his firststeps in his art career as an illustrator for children’s books.Since 1991 his work has been critically acclaimed and shownwidely throughout the world.Khatlan’s approach is both technically brilliant and innovative.The canvas becomes a ground for the deepest, darkest,most intense human emotion. Line, color, and form allmerge and sometimes even war to impart their message tothe viewer.This is not art for those who wish to be coddled, or tosee that which they have seen before. This is art which challengesthe viewer to confront who they are, who they mightbe, and their place in humanity. This is art to spend time with,to learn from, a rare chance to be lost in a musical melodynever heard before.Website:http://iraqiartist.com/iraqiartist/Archive/osama_khatlan/osama_khatlan_main.htmMeadow Acrylic on Canvas 54”x 66”7 ArtisSpectrum

C h e l s e a Ar t :The New Thirty-Something BlockPartyArticle and photos by Donna L.ClovisYoung artists, plus young collectors,plus newly established galleriesand the love of art equalthe cultural phenomenon sweepingthe Chelsea art district, asthirty-something art enthusiastsflock to galleries. Has the artworld spawned a new generationof young, hip, savvy art aficionadoswho are destined to becometomorrow’s well informed art collectors?The Chelsea art community is boasting ofthe new involvement with the thirty-somethingcrowd. Texting your friends aboutthe newest opening and exhibition is easy.With new artists and emerging galleriesexperimenting with various concepts andideas, the diversity of Chelsea has now cateredto this new audience and market givingnew energy and vitality to art spacesfor creativity.Melissa Sarti, a 32-year-old graduatestudent from Hunter College stands onthe corner of West 25th and 10th Ave. text8 ArtisSpectrummessaging a friend about an art exhibitionthis Thursday night. “Hey Carl, meet meat 6:30 at White Box,” she wrote. “There’san awesome installation I want to see andsome friends I want you to meet.”The Chelsea corner where she standsseems to be a remote one with a taxi stand,a gas station and a crumbling warehousejust below an old, elevated railroad line.But she stands on the edge of the Chelseaart world, the largest museum-likespace of contemporary art in the world.The sidewalk crowd builds as she walkstoward the gallery spaces. She passes alarge glass gallery window and movescloser to get a better glimpse of the hugespace within an old brick factory. Melissapeers through the window. She sees them,clutching glasses of champagne and wine,as the crowd of young guests inside marvelat a new contemporary painting.From Manhattan to Queens, the youngtrendsetters are coming out in droves, andnot just for the wine. Last month at a receptionat Agora Gallery Mary Ellen Hendersonand Daniel Cavazos interviewedand photographed some of the hipsters thatfrequent the gallery. “I like to know what’sgoing on in the galleries in the neighborhood.It’s kind of like for business andpleasure” answers Christina Freeman, aphotographer, when asked why she madea point to come to the reception. “We’reartists by nature; some of us are fashiondesigners, so we have an interest in art.We can truly appreciate it”.Erin Walker and Bren frequent the gallerieson a regular basis, so what keeps themcoming back? “It’s a good chance for usto catch up with each other, and also lookfor inspiration”. However, The Chelseagalleries are not just for those looking toenhance their knowledge of up-and-comingdesign trends in the contemporary artworld. “I like to be able to come out on theweekends, and be able to go from galleryto gallery to gallery. Make an afternoon ofit and go to brunch. Get a group of friendstogether to do something more interestingand define my own taste in art”, offeredJennifer Grace, a publishing assistant fromWired Magazine.

New Gangs of GalleristsSheri Pasquarella, a young art consultantand private dealer, invested in a 27th Streetspace that once held the Tunnel nightclubuntil 2001. Several young art galleristsmoved their businesses from other partsof the city to a series of old loading docksalong the south side of the former Tunnelsite. Wanting to create an instant destinationlocation, Pasquarella led the exodusof emerging-artist dealers to a promisedland of barren street-level spaces betweenEleventh and Twelfth Avenues. OliverKamm Gallery, Foxy Production, DerekEller Gallery, ClementineGallery, John Connelly Presentsand Wallspace are nowlocated here. This has addedup to be just one of the mostconcerted efforts at expandingChelsea’s gallery scenesince the art world beganabandoning SoHo for theWest Side in the mid-1990s.others in their thirties have plunged intothe world of contemporary art. Duringrecent years, as world economies waned,prices in the closely watched top 2% ofthe contemporary-art market were up to72%, according to London-based Art MarketResearch. In contrast, prices of top-tierworks in the Old Masters and French Impressionistmarkets fell by 40% and 29%.Christopher Apgar, a young financialadviser, owns works ranging from Jean-Michel Basquiat, the graffiti artist whobecame an eighties phenomenon, to asilkscreen of Marilyn Monroe by AndyNew Art NetworksSocial networks for thirtysomethingsin the arts is onthe upswing. The Young Associatesis one of the newsocial art groups started inChelsea by a museum space.The Chelsea Art Museumprogram looks to connectyoung people with NewYork’s emerging art community,creating an energeticpresence in the growth ofthe museum and a network of innovativethinkers within the arts. The group targetsrecent graduates and young professionalswho would like to learn more about art inan intimate atmosphere that can be providedby a smaller museum. They interactwith museum curators, meet artists fromNew York and create a forum within theframework of the Chelsea Art Museumfor networking with other young people inthe field. They organize special after partiesfollowing exhibition openings, curator-led art tours, gallery tours, talks withgallery owners, artist studio visits, invitationaltalks on trends in contemporary art,previews of auctions, and holiday parties.Innovative InvestorsGet out your auction paddles. A newgeneration of collectors, hedge-fundmanagers, technology entrepreneurs andWarhol. His current hunt is for artisticcreations by Gregory Crewdson, a photographerwhose work includes promotionalshots for the HBO series “Six Feet Under,”and Vic Muniz, known for making sculpturesof iconic figures out of chocolate andthen photographing the pieces.Most young and new collectors havelittle interest in the Old Masters that captivatedthe previous generation. Part of thereason for the aversion is the astronomicalprices they command. Contemporaryworks are less expensive and are morelikely to double in value in a short period.And today, a young collector doesn’tneed to spend millions of dollars on a vanGogh to earn the respect of peers. Theyshow they are in touch with the contemporaryart world by buying up works of newcontemporary artists and appearing in thegallery social scene.And while new collectors may be approachingthe art market as if it were amarketing venture of capital investments,there is no guarantee that the payoff willbe as lofty. The art market can be volatile.The collecting quirks and interests of contemporaryart lovers drive the market. Ifa few collectors love ocean scenes, pricesrise while less favored desert paintings remainbargains. Fluctuations can differ dueto different collectors entering and leavingthe art market at various times. The resultis an artist may be “hot” for a few yearsand when prices plateau and rise again; anothercollecting generation seizes the artist’sworth. The art industry urges youngpeople to buy for personal enjoyment andnot just a quick profit.The lifestyle of today’s new collectorsis not about ball gowns and expensivejewelry. It is all about walking aroundyour home in sweat pants talking with afriend on the cell phone about the contemporaryart plastered on the walls that youlook at and appreciate. It is about computers,blackberry’s, ipods, and ibooks. Mostof all, it is about texting your friends forthe next social gathering at a Chelsea artgallery opening on Thursday evening.Donna Clovis is an artist and finalist forthe Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing9 ArtisSpectrum

Dr. George KoemtzopoulosDr. George Koemtzopoulos paints into the unknownwith bravado and confidence. His work breathesinto the viewer, granting visions of untravelled psychicspaces and hidden corners of the imagination. Koemtzopoulos’scanvases are worlds of color and light; hispainterly brushwork and sensual compositions are bothvivacious and dreamy. His work has been praised byart critics as displaying “boldness and imagination;” hiscolors described as “phantasmagoric,” and his overallaesthetic sense inspiring “mental euphoria.”Koemtzopoulos merits this praise from viewers andart critics alike, in part because of his ability to touchthe viewer’s imagination and inspire questioning andwonder. He has been called “a preacher of aestheticfreedom” by art critics because, as some have said, “hedoes not impose in his paintings something certain, final,or concrete. He waits for the spectator to give theform.” The loose brushwork and the undeterminedscene allow space for the viewers mind to wander, yethis intense colors and layering of shapes and lines arrestsour attention and sustains our interest.The attraction of his paintings lies in the combinationof its obvious decorative beauty and its roots inAbstract Expressionism. These works are introspectivewithout being remote and they are aesthetically pleasingwithout losing their substance.Koemtzopoulos, a retired civil engineer who taughtat the National Technical University of Athens, startedpainting in 1966. While only embarking on a seriouspainting career two years ago, his work has alreadybeen bought by public and private institutions andwidely displayed. Koemtzopoulos sites nature as oneof his primary inspirations. Another source, he says, isto “enter deep meditation and to imagine that I use thetechniques of a great painter of the future, and that Iam on another planet, where I watch with my imaginationthe curious landscapes and creatures that live there,which later I try to include in my work.” Dr. GeorgeKoemtzopoulos has exhibited his work throughout hisnative Greece and abroad, where he has been well receivedand awarded for his artistic endeavors.Website:http://www.art-mine.com/ArtistPage/Dr._George_Koemtzopoulos.aspxPortal to another dimension Mixed Media on Canvas 40”x 30”Gods in a planet of Sirius Mixed Media on Canvas 30”x 40”10 ArtisSpectrum

The 10th INTELLECTUAL OLYMPICS AWARDS8th of May 2007 – Athens GreeceAwarded by the ASSOCIATION of FRIENDS of CLASSICALSPORTS “I OLYMPIAS” in memory of Panagiotis Th. AngelopoulosSpecial distinctions: Giannis Stratis, Pedro Olalla Gonzalez de la VegaThe Intellectual Olympics Award was awarded to the following publications:MAGAZINESArtisSpectrum MagazineArgonaftisAthlonAstynomiki AnaskopisiDefkalionEkfrasiElliniki Diethnis GlossaEllinokinezika ChronikaEn PloKelenoMoterNea EpohiNea SkepsiPnoesRogmesSynchroni SkepsiPUBLISHERAgora Gallery, Angela Di BelloAntonis DelonisKostas AngelopoulosIoannis AthanasakosThanos AthanasopoulosStavros KalyviotisKonstantinos KarkaniasAndreas Potamianos“Odysseas Elytis” High SchoolPanagiota ZaloniGiorgos PapaliosThomas SymeonDimitris KaramvalisAreti GionakiKostas DandoulakisGiorgos PapageorgiouCOLLABORATORSAdam GrassiEditorial CommissionGerasimos TsouleasEditorial CommissionGeorgios PapanikolaouGeorgios BakopoulosGeorgios PavlakosAmalia MatiatouSivitanidios SchoolEditorial CommissionDimitris SofianopoulosNearchos GeorgiadisEditorial CommissionEditorial CommissionKaterina KatsiriEditorial Commission11 ArtisSpectrum

GiannisStratisGiannis Stratis says that he is troubled to see mankind’s socialvalues “absorbed” by materialism and technology. His stylestays consistent with these thoughts about the human conditionand his paintings reflect an expression and balance of this view.Audiences can clearly understand his inner conflict with man’sdivision of priorities and consequential quest for optimism.Stratis’s works often employ a certain order or type of patterning.This aspect is not the focus but gradually becomes noticeable,just as life retains a basis of uniformity that is not readilyapparent. Stratis also utilizes bold outlines; this separation of subjectmatter from its background, and/or the definition of internalcomponents generate both a feeling of secure boundaries and asense of isolation. However, by obliterating details such as facialfeatures, and utilizing elements of surprise and playfulness,Stratis achieves enlightenment in his art, suggesting that hopedoes exist. Stratis paints with oils and mixed media on a varietyof surfaces in monochromatic or oppositional palettes, and thischoice may represent the two primary states of mind: complacencyversus struggle.The Tree of Life Mixed Media on Card 15”x 10.5”Stratis was born in Greece and has been involved with manylocal, national, and international professional art associations,and was named President of the Art Committee for the SpecialOlympics in Athens in 2004. Since 1995, he has had 110 showingsin Greece, Mexico, Spain, Paris, Italy, Turkey, Japan, andthe United States. Giannis Stratis has received four honorary diplomas,four international first place awards, five gold medals,and several special recognitions for his work. He has been thesubject of over 350 articles and allusions in newspapers and magazines,and has granted approval to references by art historians,art critics, art directors, professors, and museum curators frommany countries. The paintings of Giannis Stratis can be foundin the Athens Presidential Residence, the Greek Parliament, theMuseum Nocosia in Cyprus, and countless galleries and privatecollections throughout the world.In addition to painting, his achievements and interests includejewelry design, photography, poetry, literature, piano performance,and art collecting. It appears that Giannis Stratis broadenshis love of art by living it as well!Website:http://www.art-mine.com/ArtistPage/Giannis_Stratis.aspxDance on the Elgin Marbles Mixed Media on Card 9”x 13”12 ArtisSpectrum

GiselaWåhlströmGisela Wåhlström invites her viewers into her dreamy, vividlandscapes with intense colors, sinuous brushwork andevocative storytelling. Wåhlström’s works are worlds suffusedwith feeling that go beyond the ordinary. Her work is reminiscentof Chagall in its whimsy and loose, painterly style. The idea ofmagic, of things unruled by the everyday world, is at work inWåhlström’s paintings. She says, “My main motivation is my fascinationwith colors and people, with human relations and theirdynamics which I often express in interrelated sequences and allegories.”Wåhlström’s works provide an escape from the everyday. Herimagination is a refuge not only for her viewers, but also for herself.Wåhlström grew up in Germany during World War II, whereshe and her family lived under the threat of the Nazis. As her familyhelped refugees flee the Nazis, Wåhlström would sometimesfind peace through creating art. Equipped with an old box ofpaints, Wåhlström painted on whatever materials she could find,as no paper could be gotten during the war. Wåhlström states,“My art is partly a way of examining and dealing with complexityand contradictions - but also a way of expressing hope, strength,excitement, curiosity, love and humor.”The Garden of Eden Oil on Canvas 40”x 34”From these beginnings, it is easy to see how Wåhlström’s inspirationcontinually springs from her imagination. The boldnessof her works reveals her conviction of the strength and powerinherent in creativity. The world around Wåhlström is merely thebeginning of what can be seen with the artistic eye.Wåhlström has lived in Germany, New York and Sweden. Shewas educated at the School of Fine Arts of Stockholm. Her workreflects the “intensity of New York” and the “reflective ways ofSweden.” She says, “I am always seeking new ways of expressionand continuously change when it comes to technique, shape,symbols and motives. The only permanent feature is my imagination,my intense colors and my interest in people.” Gisela Wåhlströmhas exhibited her work extensively throughout the UnitedStates and Europe.Website:http://www.giselakonst.nuSpring Adventure Oil on Canvas 42”x 56”13 ArtisSpectrum

Get Over It! ...or... No More Self Doubtby: Lynda PogueYou are an artist.You are in a slump.You have lost confidence.Nothing looks like you want it to look.Your inner juices have dried up.As an artist, a professor of Integrated Arts at York University inCanada, a teacher of Expressive Arts, and as a consultant who workswith other artists who feel like they’ve lost their edge, I have years ofexperience in facing the demons that are sometimes referred to as “artistblocks”. The following is tried-and-true advice for those artists who arequestioning their own abilities and internal strengths.I feel like I’ve lost my edge.For this statement to have any real meaning it suggests that you knowwhat it was like when you had your edge, and this is what you’re tryingto recover. Don’t go there. Going back is impossible except in movies,novels, or Freudian psychoanalysis. Today you are not the artist that youwere yesterday let alone days/weeks/months ago. You grew.The sheer passion of an artist is the dynamic force behind his/her professionalexpertise. Pay attention to your gut and not your head. It is notabout your art… it is about you. Your job is not to recover but to uncoverthe power of the moment right now. Today.How? This is as individual as you are; however, I’m going to give afew examples of what has worked for others who have experienced thesame negativity as you.My ideas depend upon your appreciating how I perceive learning…that both the cognitive and affective domains drive each of us.When talking about the cognitive domain I like to simply describethis as the thinking component of learning… of “being in your head”.When we’re discussing the affective domain I describe this as the emotional/feelingpart of learning…when the whole self is responding to anidea/thought/image/dream/inspiration.When we are in “the slump” we’re in our heads. So one of the obvioussolutions is to get out of our heads to get out of our slump. Activate youraffective domain.I know of one person who, I kid you not, took up scuba diving (She didit in a swimming pool!) in order to move herself into a totally new spacein her body and mind. The results in her art were staggering.Another artist decided, as he began to sculpt, to begin the processby putting on a Bob Seger CD and turn it up as loud as he could whilebelting out “Old Time Rock & Roll”. This man was a classically trainedmusician as well as a sculptor and when he sang and moved to rock ‘nroll he placed himself in unfamiliar territory. He purposefully took himselfout of his head and his sculptures took on new dimensionality.When involving the whole self in something novel, it can be as simpleas going for a walk to somewhere you’ve never been, putting yourselfoutside the four walls of a studio and into ‘nature’, yelling at the moon,dancing the salsa, singing your guts out while driving in traffic, gentlytouching the petals of flowers, walking a dog from the dog pound…anything that you (because after all, if you are an artist, you have thepredisposition to be creative!) dream up to get yourself into the affectiveand out of the cognitive domain.When consulting with artists who feel trapped I often encourage themto leave their own environment/studio and view their newest work (or animage of their work, if it’s too large to transport) in some place different.It could be that those familiar surroundings were a part of the reason forthe ‘block’. And, it’s good for artists to see their work out of the contextof the studio. This engenders a totally different perspective.While out of the studio (or in it if they cannot leave the studio) I askartists to concentrate only upon current works of art…especially thosethat are troubling.They examine three of the most recent pieces and place them in orderfrom the piece with which they are most happy to the least. (We arebuilding on what is positive instead of dwelling upon what is negativeabout the work.)The artist quickly goes to each piece and immediately identifies theone small spot/ the kernel that is most pleasing. It’s important to do thisrapidly because we are after a gut-response/spontaneous reaction ratherthan a prolonged turgid critique.After being in a responsive, non-thinking mode, the artist now goesinto the contemplative mode. Affective to cognitive. He/she spends timedelving into what it was about each of these three small pieces of excellencethat brought about a personal visceral response. This often leads toincredible insight and a real need to get back to work and the block hasdisappeared.Learn from this positivity and build upon it.Discover the essence of your work that most pleases you. You canremove your own seeds of self-doubt.You have a choice. Stay in your head or involve your whole self inyour art.As my best friend says to me when I become pessimistic about mywork, “GET OVER IT!” So I do.This part of my painting pleases me the most. Inow want to build upon the power of this smallkernel of excellence.Lynda Pogue, Canadian artist, writer, professor and consultant, is currently represented by the Agora Gallery, New York14 ArtisSpectrum

SophiaAngelisWhy? Oil Pastel on Canvas 24”x 16”When Sophia Angelis moved from Greece to Germany as achild, the movement was paralleled by a change in the essentialshape of her consciousness. No wonder she is consumedby the idea of the ship; that temple of the voyaging soul thatbrings a person out and home again.The ship, which longs to be untethered as the soul longs to bereleased from all that inhibit self actualization. It is natural thatthe ship, inexhaustible fountain of metaphor that it is, has beentaken as talisman by an artist like Angelis, whose work is concernedwith not only transition and transubstantiation, but withthe idea of metaphor itself.Angelis paints naturalistic images of marine life and nonrepresentationaldepictions of souls moving out of the body and presentsthem as part of a unified project whose interconnections maynonetheless remain unclear. She rejects and refutes any obligationto contain the various branches in discrete units. The very actof presenting such works side by side should be taken as a statement—onethat implies, or rather takes as given, the fact that aconnection exists between the physical world and the mental; thatwithout landscape and commerce the concepts we use to describeour psyches to ourselves own would be fatally impoverished.Angelis seeks to expose the disconnectedness and isolationof modern life while also, through landscape painting, todepict real beauty.Circle of Life Oil & Collage on Canvas 39”x 28”Her childhood move from Greece to Germany, from color andlight to painful isolation, only goes partway towards explainingher compulsion to simultaneously assert that beauty exists andpoint a finger at life’s grave defects. The explanation lies morein what Angelis refers to as “The memory of death”---an intuitionof human life’s essential fragility that was planted in her asa child by her mother’s illness. Revealing life as an essentiallypetty progression of vain pursuits, the Memory also heightensthe ability to see beauty and to intimate the existence of a largersphere in which universal values are possible. In this way, sorrowand fear have carved in her a larger living space for radical joy,for radical vision.Website:http://www.angelisophia.com15 ArtisSpectrum

The Healing Artof Creativity:Combating Chronic Stress andDepressionby: Brett Curtis Weber, Ph.D.Every genuine artistic intuition goes beyond what the sensesperceive and reaching beneath reality’s surface, strives tointerpret its hidden mystery. The intuition itself springs from thedepths of the human soul, where the desire to give meaning toone’s own life is joined by the fleeting vision of beauty and of themysterious unity of things. All artists experience the unbridgeablegap which lies between the work of their hands, however successfulit may be, and the dazzling perfection of the beauty glimpsedin the ardour of the creative moment: what they manage toexpress in their painting, their sculpting, their creating is no morethan a glimmer of the splendour which flared for a moment beforethe eyes of their spirit.” - Pope John Paul II, Letter to ArtistsJohn Paul II’s beautiful words speak to a universal humanexperience we share in when we create. I do not mention theword “Healing” in my artist statement, but the notion that art andcreativity can be used in the healing process is not a new idea.Certainly, there are many examples where a passion for creativityhas helped people face and persevere against tremendous personalobstacles--especially in the arts and sciences. Stephen Hawkingthe renowned physicist or the deceased artist Gay Lauritzen, twohighly creative people afflicted with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS), Lou Gehrig’s disease, both passionate about theirwork and life.Since my own diagnosis with Progressive-Relapsing MultipleSclerosis (MS), the freedom to express myself creatively throughart has been physically beneficial and psychologically therapeutic.How so? First, creating artwork (or simply acting creatively)may not be a cure for Progressive-Relapsing MS, but it is anexample of both a physical and mental process which helps me tomaximize my own natural coping skills--while alleviating someof the negative emotional stress caused by the progression of mydisease, stress which I believe increases symptoms and disabilitycaused by my form of MS.Whether a person suffers from a chronic illness like MS or not,we each do our best to overcome unhealthy stress and we eachadapt to change and adversity. Our sense of self-worth is closelyassociated with our apparent ability to control change within ourlives. When negative changes take place and are beyond our control(such is the case with MS), our need for control escalates. Inmy own situation, my need for control has at times become overwhelming.Practicing forms of relaxation that help me to let go ofthat need (especially during times of heightened emotional stress)provides me with a greater sense of perceived control over my illness,and may actually affect the progression of my form of MS.Approximately 6-10% of people with MS appear to have a formthat is progressive from onset, but also characterized by acuteattacks--in my case attacks have always correlated with periodsof high emotional stress.Regardless of what type of MS a person has, some commonemotional reactions are likely to appear. A sense of disbelief,anger, depression, guilt, fear, a driving desire to regain controlover one’s life--all of these negative feelings contribute to anintense chronically active stress within the person. Of course,stress is an entirely understandable response to MS (and chronicillness in general). A diagnosis of MS implies a lifelong condition,progressive physical disability, emotional conflict andlasting adjustments. Stress is a normal reaction to MS and shouldbe expected. Finding a positive stress-relieving escape from thedisease can be extremely helpful.Physicians claim that about one half of all people who haveMS experience a serious depression during their illness. I have,of course, at times felt depressed about my illness. Interestinglythough, I have never felt compelled to go on any form of antidepressantmedication. I believe that I am blessed with a naturallyhappy disposition, but that I have also maximized my naturalcoping skills through productive positive thoughts that haveinevitably taken shape within my art and personal life. Forexample, who I associate with and how they affect me emotionallyhas become an important consideration. I simply refuse tobe surrounded by negative people--and this includes certainindividuals within the medical community. I choose my physi-16 ArtisSpectrum

cians and my friends very carefully. They have a powerful impacton the way we feel about ourselves--rousing courage and hope,or fear and depression.There are a wide range of physical symptoms that may comeand go over time with MS. The disease causes damage withinthe central nervous system along nerve pathways affecting movement,speech, vision, hearing, and bladder & bowel control. Whatis not commonly recognized is that the disease can also directlyinterfere with a person’s ability to think clearly. Damage withinthe brain can create changes that affect problem-solving, attention,learning and memory. I believe that just as physical therapycan help people with MS maintain as much physical abilityas possible, mental therapies that encourage problem-solving,attention, learning and memory skills can help people with MSmaintain as much cognitive ability as possible. Strategies suchas art therapy and other positive challenging creative outlets mayhelp improve or maintain partially impaired cognitive pathwayswithin the brain, and may enhance an individual’s self-worth andnatural coping skills against depression and perhaps fatigue.that scientists must ponder questions from opposing points ofview so that eventually we find the correct answers to difficultproblems. Below, the inverted image reveals itself to me as a solareclipse and so I named the painting “Moon.”Moon (original painting and digital image)“On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and wentdown in the daytime, with the Venus star in attendance.”- Record of an eclipse on Sun 3 May 1375 B.C.discovered in Mesopotamia.Memory(derived from painting and sister image)“There is no human being who does notcarry a treasure in his soul, a momentof insight, a memory of life, a dream ofexcellence, a call to worship.”- Abraham Heschel (1907 - 1972)My paintings are abstractions. I do not intend to paintrepresentational images. From time to time they may appearto be something recognizable, and then I may give them theobvious or not so obvious name, but I never intend to paintanything representational. All the same, because I do name mypaintings (other artists often leave their abstract art untitled),I do believe that I eventually come to recognize after somereflection what my paintings represent. The entire process ofcreating and then naming my paintings provides me with a verysatisfying physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual release.What’s more, because I approach my artwork with no expectationsof good or bad, right or wrong, correct or incorrect, muchas a young child first approaches art, I experience very little ofthe stress and anxiety that is often associated with the creativeprocess. What will people think of my creative work? A questionthat once caused me anxiety (example my Ph.D defense),has become much less important in view of my illness. I createartwork for my own enjoyment now, and to my own personalsatisfaction.Why do I invert the color of my paintings in my digital art?Well, the inverted color spectrum is beautiful, revealing in that ituncovers hidden elements within the paintings, and also emotionallysoothing especially when placed along side the original sisterimage. The inverted colors also serve to remind me symbolicallyViewed together the original painting and sister image can beseen as equivalent or contradictory, an analogy to the arts andsciences--and a metaphor that conscious and unconsciouselements within us affect health simultaneously in both positiveand negative directions.You may have noticed that I only work on square canvases.This is because while I am painting I do not consider the finalorientation of the work. I paint freely and often turn and spin thecanvas in different directions and then again when I am interpretingthe final abstraction. Only after I have given the painting (anddigital art) a name do they receive their final correct orientation. Icall the process “Wakeful Dreaming” because much like the earlyFreudian and Jungian psychologists who first attempted to understandtheir patients’ dreams using various techniques, I attempt tounderstand my paintings (and digital art) by giving them each aspecific name which usually comes to me upon reading a famous(or not so famous) quotation, or idea. In this way the processof freely creating abstract imagery that I reflect on and finallyname embodies an ongoing conversation that I have with myself.In practice, a dialogue between my unconscious, dreamlike,symbolic mind (characterized by my artwork) and my conscious,rational, literate mind (characterized by the quotations I choose).Together, the quotations and artwork speak to me as both a criticand a friend.The last step to my creative process is to break my artworksymbolically. I do this by combining the original painting and sisterimage. I was diagnosed with MS the week before finishing myPh.D. in neuroscience. I remember how I felt that week--shock, asense of disbelief, as though a brick had just shattered my newlycompleted stained-glass window. Unlike the original paintingsand sister images, my broken art stood alone without words whenfirst exhibited. Since that time, however, something internal haspushed me to add a few words, a final thought. What would myBroken Art say if it could speak? If I could just continue the twothoughts expressed within each painting and sister image, whatfinal thought might appear? continued on pg. 3617 ArtisSpectrum

Nava RevitalNava Revital’s work shows aglimpse of everyday life. Revital’swork captures a fleeting momentof something intensely felt—aparticular quality of light, a late-dayshadow, a simple gesture or a quietstillness. Revital achieves her affectof a “momentary impression” withher use of complementary colors,differing levels of opacity and colorcontrast. Her works have a soft touch;her colors are blended carefully andher brushwork is light, but lush. She states, “I am paintingaccording to my own rules. I am using a special 3-D composition,and make a lot of use with contrast. These techniquesadd expression to the work.” Indeed, Revital’s work has aquality of a pleasant memory, in which everything is suffusedwith light and edges have become softened.Revital is an Israeli artist who lives in Jerusalem, a city thathas a “very strong influence” on her work. About her work,Revital says, “my first consideration in art is how much IThe Living Room - Diptych Oil on Canvas 31.5”x 55”enjoy the creativity.” She studied in the Bezalel Academy ofArt and sites her most influential teachers as the artists HaimKiewe, Joseph Hirsh and Tova Berlinsky. She has exhibitedher work throughout Jerusalem and recently has participatedin the Florence Biennale exhibition, where her work wasparticularly well received. Nava Revital is an exciting newcomerto the U.S. art market.Website: http://www.navarevital.comSunset Plumes Pastel on Paper 29”x 19.5”Susanna BertolacciSome artists have a remarkable ability to present more realismthan a photograph. One mark of a truly insightful soul is the giftto reflect an idealized and improved version of life itself.Susanna Bertolacci relies on detail and light playing on color,but success in accomplishing this effect requires more. Bertolaccidisplays an evolved perception and technique, which offersviewers the chance to practically feel their fingers stroking the flamingofeathers in “Sunset Plumes”, representative of her work’ssensuality.Working primarily in pastel and oils, Bertolacci expertly useseach medium to capture her subject. She presents a serene placeinto which her audience may escape, while still marveling at reality.Bertolacci employs a palette of five colors maximum, and achievescolors through layering and wet-on-wet applications. She paintswhat she loves, and reminds her audience that even simple objectshave beauty that should not be taken for granted. Bertolacci is excitedthat “something inside” takes over while creating art, and theend result is always what she imagined-and more.Susanna Bertolacci overcame obstacles that kept her from earlytraining and recently decided to follow her life-long artistic dreams.She still paints for personal clients, but no longer ignores requeststo exhibit publicly; her own studio was opened on the Gold Coastin May of 2006.Website: http://www.artadditions.com.au18 ArtisSpectrum

Keith P. BurnettIva MilanovaFrom the brush of a master, the work of Keith P. Burnett willtransport you to worlds of imagination, possibility, and unmatchedbeauty. Bright, vibrant and surreal landscapes enable theviewer to experience wonder anew at the most simple elements ofthis world, earth, sky, land.Working with light and color to create his surreal landscapes,Burnett’s technical ability is evident, yet transparent.His passion is creating works that walk the line betweenimagination and reality, and impart the feeling that one isseeing the world for the first time. Each piece is a newexperience. Meaning is fluid, but inspiration is constant.After twenty years in the sign making business, Burnettdowned his sign making tools and followed hispassion, re-educating himself in the world of art, and goingon to create many a decision that has undoubtedly enrichedcontemporary Canadian art.Keith’s work has shown in several galleries throughout Ontario,Canada and can be found in numerous private and corporatecollections. Keith Burnett placed second in a 2003 all mediacompetition at the Broken Fence Gallery in Toronto for his worktitled “Past, Present, and Future.”For those who believe art should be an inspiration to the soul,and enjoy seeing their world painted in new colors and a newlight, Keith P. Burnett is a ‘must see’ artist.Website: http://www.gallery4thavenue.comThe Last Maple Oil on Canvas 36”x 36”On the Beach Oil on Canvas 37”x 23.5”With colorful, bold strokes, Iva Milanova contemporizestimeworn subject matter related to religion and humanity.Her icons and portraits are saturated with profound commentaryon the human condition.Milanova was born into the folk traditions of Sofia, Bulgaria,which laid the foundation for her unique style. Her father createdmetal plastics and her mother designed jewelry, while hergrandmother weaved. Using the skills she learned from herfamily and their artist friends, Milanova found success in herteen years as a textile designer for one of Bulgaria’s largestfashion companies.Her background in textiles continually impacts her paintingstyle. When not painting nudes reminiscent of Picasso’swork, she pays close attention to ethnic garments in her portraits.Even her brushstrokes, short and fat, resemble strandsof yarn, woven into the canvas. Having learned dyeing techniquesfrom her grandmother, color plays a significant role in heroil paintings. Bright jolts of green, blue, red, and yellowenergize her work.Milanova studied art history and classical archeology in Berlin,Germany, and is currently working on her doctoral thesis on“The Iconostases in the Orthodox Church.” Not surprisingly,her mosaics are laced with such Christian symbolism as fishand crosses. She uses vivid hues to modernize Byzantine-styleicons of Christ and the Madonna. The dizzying palette of colorsand fractured imagery speak on the quest for meaning in aharrowing world.Website: http://www.iva-milanova.de19 ArtisSpectrum

Joel CarpenterJoel Carpenter’s glimpse into life’s more somber moments is clearly displayedin “Sick of Love”. His work maintains a recurring femininetheme, and by eliminating distracting details, Carpenter extracts a subject’sconflict through her eyes, the introspective windows to the soul.With a unique luminescence and translucence, Carpenter’s style displayshis abstract expressionist attitude of allowing inspired passion todictate his images. These have been the basis for his success for the last30 years, with sales to private collectors and interior designers. (Untilrecently, Carpenter’s “journeyman painter” outlook has kept him on a pathaway from traditional galleries. His personal philosophy eschews ego andpreconceived judgments; thus, his paintings are unsigned.)The tilt of the head, the bend of the neck-both convey his subjects’turmoil more than blatant expressions ever could. Mouths and eyebrowsgive little away, so viewers must reach their own conclusionsabout the inner struggles each woman faces. Carpenter’s titles add to theenigma of his style: simple direct phrases possess greater depth whenconnected to his images.Joel Carpenter has been commissioned on three mural projects, is anactive member of his local Colorado art community, exhibits annually,and has sat on competitive jury panels. As he puts it, “I really do walk thewalk about art.”Website: http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Joel_Carpenter.aspxSick of Love Oil on Canvas 36”x 24”Jan WheelerStormfront IV Oil on Canvas 16”x 20”Jan Wheeler reflects nature at its most dynamic; her worksbrilliantly capture the quality of motion, change andgrowth in our environment. She says, “Landscape is not astill and dead environment. It lives, it moves, it breathes, itripples and it is [a] living organism.” With such an inspiration,Wheeler grants the viewer a glimpse of this “breathing”world around us, in all its undulating rhythms and subtle,changeable colors. The curving form is the image Wheeler ismost interested in—she refers to it as the “language” of herpaintings. Wheeler also attends sensitively to the quality oflight in her work, with careful attention to the effect of lighton a curving form.The underlying inspiration behind her landscape paintingsis a deep love and respect for the natural world. She states,“Underlying all of this is my need to be a positive force inthe struggle to protect these dwindling environments…If mywork plays a role in enhancing the value of healthy, vibrantlandscapes in the eyes of the world’s community I wouldbe thrilled.” Indeed, it is apparent to any viewer of theseworks, the grace with which Wheeler has created her livinglandscapes and the careful, almost tender selections ofcolors depicting shadow and light. Jan Wheeler is a Canadianartist who lives close to nature. Her work has been wellreceived throughout Canada, the United Kingdom and theUnited States.Website: http://www.janwheeler.com20 ArtisSpectrum

Norma RGFMonument Valley Macho Acrylic on Canvas 22”x 28”Norma RGF paints the mystical wildness of the Americandesert with a fresh, modern, wholly unique perspective.Norma RGF has been painting most of her life, and underthree different names: her father’s, her first husband’s and hersecond husband’s. She has combined the initials to create thelast name she is known by as an artist. Originally from NewYork, Norma attended Cooper Union, where she studied FineArt and Graphics. Influenced by Photorealism, Pop Art andAlbers Optical Color Theory, Norma’s work is bold, almostbrazen, in its hyper-real figures and otherworldly colors.When Norma moved to Arizona, her art became influencedby the profound landscape of the Sonoran Desert andthe lively, soulful “living history events,” which includedNative Americans. Norma earned the name “soulcatcher” forthe startlingly accurate and sensitive portraits of these nativepeoples. Norma’s use of acrylic paint creates flat colorshapes and emphasizes patterns: both of the landscape and ofthe native tribes. Though Norma’s work is highly realistic inform, her colors and perspective offer an almost supernaturalglimpse into another culture and a forbidding, yet beautiful,landscape.Norma RGF lives in the San Tan Mountains in the SonoranDesert, where she works out of a studio that is entirelysolar-powered. She has exhibited her work widely throughoutthe U.S.Website: http://www.desertdrawings.comPatricia ValenciaCarstensPatricia Valencia Carstens is a talented painter who is fullyaware of the implications of living and its influence on thecreative process. Her paintings are characterized by a sense ofmood and drama infused through the use of a limited palette andswaths of dark, empty shadows surrounding her figures. Carstens’paintings often focus on a female protagonist punctuated by individualityand introspection, however, her creamy brushwork andtreatment of paint remains playful and rich. With an almost sculpturalapproach she models her figures with tactile brushstrokes,allowing the paint to drip where it may, her figures rise out of thedarkness to boldly peer back at the abyss. Carstens enjoys landscapepainting as well, particularly with reference to how peoplehave developed a sense of home within the natural surroundings.Her artwork is concerned with this harmony between humanityand nature, and it is from this perspective that life itself becomesher muse. “I go always on the lookout for something to change,or to understand. As to live, more intensely.” Born in BuenosAires, Carstens studied at the National School of Fine Arts beforemoving to Germany in 1986. Her work has been collected and exhibitedin Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland and the UnitedStates. Patricia Valencia Carstens lives and works in Germany.Website: http://www.valencia-art.de The Waiting Lady 2 Acrylic on Canvas 48”x 24”21 ArtisSpectrum

JascurAll of them have stayed on the other side - WelcomeOil on Canvas 28”x 33”Serbian artist Jascur paints breathtaking landscapes thatteem with a natural pastoral charm. His work focuseson the country villas, the rolling brooks, hills, and treelinedfields that surround his home. Jascur’s use of a thickimpasto application of paint creates shadows on the imagethat add a beautiful, organic sense of depth. He possesses adelicate sensibility when capturing the radiance of the sun;crisp features in the foreground dissolve into the sfumatoof the distance.Jascur sees his landscapes not just as enjoyable piecesof art, but also as metaphors for linking humanity to itsnatural, spiritual roots. “Landscape is just a motive, basis,just the way of expressing oneself through symbols.” Hispositive attitude beams forth through his art, in the form ofsunlight shimmering on a leaf in the breeze. Jascur’s paintingspossess a universal appeal and the ability to charmaudiences from any walk of life. His warm, inviting colorsbeacon the viewer to explore deeper, past the trees andfields, across the rivers and mountains and further, untilthey see that there is no journey but the one that lay beforetheir own feet.Jascur has been actively painting since 1991, exhibitinghis work at numerous collective exhibitions. He lives andworks in Novi Sad, SerbiaWebsite: http://www.draganjascur.co.yuWielding a paintbrush, Nacera Guerin raises awareness forsocial causes. Her passionate strokes of paint articulate onissues, ranging from the environment to the body politic.Guerin uses art to motivate society to action. Visual imageryallows her to communicate her message across cultures. She herselfis, “born in Algeria; raised in France; reborn in America.” Hercolor schemes of luxurious browns, sunny yellows, and rusty orangesbring to mind the deserts of Africa, while her subject mattertranscends boundaries.The human form being a common point of reference for allpeople, it is a recurring theme in Guerin’s work. A member ofAmnesty International, Guerin is a strong supporter of women’srights, and consequently the female body is prevalent in her paintings,collages, and sculptures. No two bodies in Guerin’s paintingsare the same—a clear indication that the artist celebrates diversityand has a vast repertoire of painterly style.Part of the reason Guerin’s work is so varied is that she lovesexperimenting with everything from ink to coffee and spices.Guerin at times swirls many colors together in soul-bearing emotionthat brings to mind Edvard Munch’s work, and in other instancesshe drags chunks of brawny color into bold shapes influencedby French post-Impressionism. It’s only after she begins apainting that she discovers the direction it will take.Guerin’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europeand the US, from Switzerland, Salzburg, Rome and Bolognato San Francisco, Miami and New York.Website: http://www.nacera.comNacera GuerinPost Bull Fight Acrylic on Canvas 30”x 40”22 ArtisSpectrum

Andrew CooperNelida KalanjBetween a Rock and a Place Print 60”x 36”The apportionment of space and time are predominant factorsin our ‘being’ and the disruption of these foundations impelsus to question and seek to substantiate our presumed reference.”Through the use of mind-bending sculptural installations,Andrew Cooper explores how the interplay of time and space affectsour understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Hetackles where reality begins and ends, and when illusion takesover our senses. The skewed perspectives of his concept art challengeour rationality and, in doing so, confront our preconceivednotions of Truth. Cooper thereby impels us to examine not justour physical certainties, but also our socio-political discernment.Having worked as a designer for public architecturalworks, Cooper grounds his installation art in firm lines, borders,and boxes. They exist as quarters to contain and realms to escape.Although the order provokes a feeling of confinement,intentional distortions suggest that there is always a way out ifone is imaginative.Increasingly, Cooper has turned to the human form inhis art. The sculptures of people lend a more naturalistic aspectto his art. Although mainly monochromatic and rigid, the peoplehelp to create a narrative in their placement and poses. More so,they reflect our place in society.The British artist’s work is a study of stark contrasts.Mainly working in a palette of black and white, he scrutinizestime and space; reality and illusion; physical and psychological;right and wrong; nature and technology; and public and private.Film, literature, music, and travel factor into Andrew Cooper’sthought-provoking installations.Website: http://www.andrewcooper-ma.co.ukIn her pastel “Nymph in Movement,” the Croatian artistNelida Kalanj creates a faceless woman entangled in rootsor other sinewy connectors that resemble, overall, an intricateneural network. Yet the union between the woman and her surroundingsis seamless; the roots are a part or extension of thewoman’s own body. The interconnections between humans andnature are an important sensitivity Kalanj explores in the manyworks she has undertaken over the past 25 years. In “DancingFishes,” the connection between human-made processes—inthis case, art itself—and nature is even more apparent. Carryingthe spontaneity of a sketch, it remains in the middle ofthe process of creation and at the same time is in a state ofcompletion.Public displays of Kalanj’s art have been numerous. Kalanjhas had approximately 50 solo exhibitions and many group exhibitionsthroughout Europe and the world. Her highest honormay have come during the early 1990s when, as civil war ragedin then Yugoslavia, Kalanj was called upon by the Presidencyof Croatia’s Constitutional Court to exhibit her work for a gatheringof foreign delegates. She was called upon by the presidencyof Germany’s Constitutional Court to exhibit her workunder their patronage. Kalanj lives and works in Rijeka innorthwestern Croatia, the city in which she previously studiedat the Academy of Fine Art. She is a member of the CroatianAssociation of Artists (the HDLU) and the Society of Artists inCroatia (LIKUM).Website: http://www.nelidaart.comNymph in Movement Acrylic on Canvas 30”x 40”23 ArtisSpectrum

MichaelMartinoLandscape at Dusk Mixed Media on Wood 24”x 48”Michael Martino’s mixed media work appearsdeceptively simple. His work undulatingwith texture seems to breathe off thewood he uses as canvas. His works are dense,transcendent and almost abstract, the negativespace pushing the scene toward the viewer.Martino views life as a paradox of motion “regardlesshow things seem to change, the moreit all seems to stay the same,” with his attention to the subtle details of his materials he captures this paradox in his art.Martino recognizes the unique texture and feel of common construction materials, but, while the materials are classified as commonand ordinary, there is nothing ordinary about the results—his panels are simple and elegant, and rich with the influence of the mythand metaphysics of world cultures that he loves.Martino prefers that people spend time viewing his art, rather than listening to him explain it. In his estimation the best place forpeople to find answers and be introduced to his thoughts, feelings and perspective are through his uniquely personal and expressivepanels, “the eclectic body of subject matter in my portfolio is the result of building each construct from an individual personal experience.”Each panel serves as a portal allowing artist and viewer to connect. That connection, that unity is how Martino measures success.Michael Martino received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. at the Pratt Institute, and resides in the New York Metropolitan area.Website: http://www.art-mine.com/ArtistPage/Michael_Martino.aspxArc en CielOil on Canvas 30”x30”C.DrummondThe paintings of C. Drummondreverberate withrhythmic, mesmerizingshapes in fields of rapturouscolor. Her works arestunning to behold; thefractured,multi-coloredschemes draw the viewer in for a closer look. Born in Rio de Janeiro,a town famous for its high-spirited gatherings of Carnival,as well as its cultural diversity, Drummond captures the beautyand culture of Brazil with her palette strokes and brilliant colors.Her paintings, completed in oils, focus on social cooperationbetween people while living in an existence of peace and harmony.“When I complete a painting, my strongest wish, is that thosewho see it will be drawn into it and want to be part of the happyatmosphere.” The art world has responded to her work with raptattention, her work is on display around the world, in galleriesfrom Brazil to the United States, Spain and France. Drummondlives and works in the U.S.Website: http://www.chdrummond.comUntitled 12Pastel on Paper 28”x 22”EntonPanariti“Everything begins and endswith art.” This is Enton Panariti’smantra. It should beno surprise, then, that natureis his theme. He approachesthis theme directly so as tomore clearly reveal it. Heworks with pastels on paperand eschews titles. He has apreference for blue, red, andyellow. There is spontaneityin his technique, which hingeson co-presence with the naturalmoment. “Reality itself suggestswhat to include and what to leave out,” Panariti relates.“Everything is there, so I don’t really need to rack my brain to becreative.” But part of that reality—and of nature—is the observer,in all his idiosyncrasy. “Interpreting nature is very personal toeveryone,” Panariti explains; his own interpretations “try to catchthe essence of humanity and nature itself.” These striking coloringsof the natural reveal a perspective like van Gogh’s, where themind and vision of the painter are ubiquitous in the art.Website:http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Enton_Panariti.aspx24 ArtisSpectrum

AnyaRubinArt can be said to be the energies of the artist, laid down for allto see. Anya Rubin’s work exemplifies this theory as her workseffortlessly express the energies of spirit and of femininity. ‘Mermaid’is a fluid, mysterious piece and though the subject is captured,there is still the veil that must not be lifted, but understoodin order to experience the work fully. As with many of Anya Rubin’spieces one feels a sense of elusive beauty lingering, waitingto be understood.A native of St Petersburg, Russia, Rubin today lives in NewJersey, USA. Through a mix of formal training and self taughtdiscovery, Rubin has developed a unique style that often focuseson the feminine form, not solely as an object of beauty, but as aportal through which greater spiritual and human truths can befound. Her work has been shown in numerous galleries throughoutthe U.S., and she is currently studying with Doug Auld, aportrait artist recognized by the New York Times.Mermaid Oil on Canvas 30”x 40”Rubin aims to capture the connectedness of the individual andthat which lies beyond the borders of the skin. Each piece is abeautiful conundrum, and it is not merely the presence of the femaleform in her work which makes these pieces feminine. Eachwork is complex, composed of many layers, and for every answerit gives, there is another question lurking in the linesWebsite: http://www.anyaart.comNaruYoshidaThe work of Japanese artistNaru Yoshida is bothairborne with exuberantstrokes of color, and stunninglygrounded in theNorth Sea Oil on Canvas 16”x 20”exquisite detailing of flowerpetals or sunlight spreading across a shoreline. Both stoic andplayful in his work, Yoshida revisits familiar objects and settings,and through a series of still-lifes that alter palettes and moodslike reality-shifting lenses, he reveals to us the layers that exist inthese familiar settings. To contemplate these works, one sensesthe artist reinventing himself, and rediscovering another universewhich is familiar yet unique.Yoshida summons boldness from his work when he invests itwith confident, painterly gestures or fragility when he delicatelytraces dabs of abstract color with thread-thin black lines. His loveof the artistic calligraphy Shuji instilled in him his fine attentionfor detail, but it is Naru Yoshida’s daring as an artist, and his loveof beauty in nature, which remains with us when we experiencehis evocative, lively paintings.Website: http://www.ny-jp.comDr.GregoryAllenPagePainter Dr. GregoryAllen Page is concernedwith bothWisdom at Play Oil on Canvas 24”x 30”self-study and visualbeauty. Having spent years in both spiritual and scientificexploration, Page approaches painting as a twofold enterprise: toconvey a view of the world which is holistic, and to bring forththe vigor he sees in the world through vivid landscapes, intimateportraits, and universal myths.Capturing the contradiction of the material and the ethereal,Page combines social commentary with an artistic confessionof spirituality. His female nudes hearken back to classical figures,while they are also portrayed with strikingly contemporaryshades and coloring. Page says he’s been inspired by Impressionism,but he has also inherited Egon Schiele’s eye for the bodyand its contortions, coupled with a Pop Art social critique. Heuses color with unconventional daring, and his subjects, whetherfriends, archetypes or movie stars, are recognizable to us, butthey have also been transformed by this artist’s vision of hisown unique worlds.Website: http://www.chicagoimpressionism.com25 ArtisSpectrum

Art That Saves Our WorldThe photographic imagery of Dr Joe Zammit-LuciaDefiance Archival Digital Print 13”x 20”When we spoke to him for this article, the artist was in Jamaica creating images for a new series on tropical conservation.Dr Joe Zammit-Lucia’s photographic art is firmly focused onHeritage, Conservation and the Environment. The question ofhow art, and in particular his art, can help save the planet is alwayson his mind. “Art can touch people’s emotions and providea strong push to get people to act in support of the environment.”His commitment goes beyond the creation of artwork. The artistdonates all profits from his photographic art works to environmentalorganizations.His work has been described as ‘a feast of visual inventivenesswith a social message;’ critics have compared his animal portraitsto the work of Richard Avedon; he has been said to have the mindof a journalist and the soul of an artist. This issue of ARTisSpectrumshowcases a selection of Joe’s work from the portfolio entitled“Fauves.” In this collection he takes a different approach tothe photography of endangered species. By moving away fromthe usual nature photography of animals in their habitat to a modern,‘studio portrait’ style of representation, his aim is to elevatethe way we view these animals to a near human level. “If we canlearn to respect these animals as rightful co-inhabitants of ourenvironment, there is a greater chance that we may slow downor even reverse the environmental damage that is driving themto extinction,” he says. In some of the images, the artist uses amonochrome medium, stripping the subject to its essence and furtherelevating the subject’s status as represented by the portrait.The visual impact is nothing short of emotionally captivating.Says author and art critic Lyle Rexer: “The artist wants to bringthe overwhelming reality and the beauty [of these animals] intoour presence, to alter us. The eyes are windows on what we canonly imagine are the souls of these creatures.”26 ArtisSpectrum

Through his work, Zammit-Lucia is driving two major changes inthe world of conservation and environmental photography. Firstof all he sees his work as expressive rather than representational.Moving away from the ‘straight,’ almost photojournalistic representationsthat are the daily fare of nature photography, he usesbold compositions, dramatic use of space, unusual cropping andstriking colors used sparingly to engage the viewer emotionallywith the subject. One cannot help but be touched by these images.Secondly, he prefers to focus on the positive rather than the negative.“Much environmental photography focuses on the shocking,the negative, the destructive. But the shocking is commonplaceand viewers today are becoming inured to the daily bombardmentby negative imagery” he says. “My aim is to focus on thepositive; to elevate the subject to a higher level while highlightingareas of progress in the task of environmental preservation. I believethat this may encourage many to join in the efforts to createa sustainable environment shared with a diverse variety of animaland plant species.”In this, the artist claims to draw inspiration from the words ofFrench neo-classical writer Roland Barthes: “Ultimately, Photographyis subversive not when it frightens, repels, or even stigmatizes,but when it is pensive, when it thinks.”This powerful, expressive approach that positively engages ouremotions was recently on display in the artist’s solo exhibition atthe United Nations headquarters in New York.Dr Zammit-Lucia’s “Fauves” portfolio and other work is causinga stir in the art world. Collectors of these images are satisfied inthe knowledge that they are not just acquiring captivating imagesissued in limited editions; they are also making a direct financialcontribution to environmental conservation.Sadness Archival Digital Print 20”x 13” Disappearing Archival Digital Print 20”x 13”27 ArtisSpectrum

JohnNiemanOlaRoslingOutstanding KissesMixed Media on Paper15”x23”Great artists offer theiraudience more than justa visual image. The thrillof discovering those“Aha!” moments is akinto receiving unexpectedgifts.John Nieman provides these surprises with his realistic watercolorand pastel works, which incorporate an emotional penchantfor sweets with an intellectual desire for word play. A viewerrealizes that frequently used terms have more in sync than everthought possible, and the connections are definitely memorable.In fact, since both the terms and the candies are readily available,the potential exists for long-term associations, and hence, longtermrecollections and smiles.With a background as an international advertising creative director,Nieman widens his capabilities from simple scene displayto imaginative comparison with universal appeal. John Nieman’spaintings have been as artfully composed as the creations in hisrole as music director, and his experiences as chef and authorhave allowed him to successfully blend, on canvas, his love offood with a passion for words.Website: http://www.johnnieman.com/There’s a bewitchingmelancholy inRosling’s visions. Hisworks are more thanpaintings; they arenarrative and music,Coast Oil on Canvas 23”x 32”an opera of light anddark, a fugue of figure and landscape. Rosling grew up sailing theScandinavian coasts and began painting at the age of twelve. Influencedby his youth amidst the beauty of Sweden, the forests andsea have moved his work in a dramatic direction; the pieces seem tolive in a liminal space between memory and the present, his figureslonely, forlorn.Rosling infuses his seascapes with light giving them a violent,almost tactile presence on the canvas. His figures are haunted bytime, yet timeless; Ola Rosling’s paintings have a spiritual, nostalgicambiance. Rosling studied in Stockholm and Sweden. Hebegan showing his work in 1996 and since then has had solo andgroup shows extensively throughout Sweden and Denmark.Website: http://www.olarosling.comThe WishPastel on Canvas 34”x 25”VyacheslavShevchukVyacheslav Shevchuk’s atmosphericwatercolors of trees and mountainsare deeply situated in the styleof the Far East.The Ukranian artist studied architectureand classical drawing atthe Academy of Architecture in hisbirthplace of Kiev, Ukraine, beforestudying traditional Chinese paintingand calligraphy at Beijing Academyof Art. He creates his works onsilk and rice paper. Further, he uses free-brush and fine-brushtechniques to apply watercolors and adds black ink to the mix.This lends his paintings a naturalistic quality with sporadicsplurges of intensity.Shevchuk’s watercolors are imbued with a reverence for thenatural world. Although his color palette is mainly restrained toblack and white, save for feather-light touches of red and yellow,his paintings are extremely dynamic. Scratchy brushstrokes suggestnature’s unrelenting force. Dangerous cliffs command attention,while pines struggle to stand against whipping winds. Eachwork features calligraphy and his signature red stamp.Website: http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Vyacheslav_Shevchuk.aspxUntitled 16 (#57)Ceramic, Steel, &Wood 48”x36”x18”MichaelJosephHibbardThe beauty of the sharp edgedforms that were predominate inthe industrial architecture thatfascinated Michael Joseph Hibbardas a child has been a majorinfluence on his work. The impressionsthat the upstate NewYork architectural environmentleft on Hibbard are reflectedin the contemporary pieces hecreates from steel and ceramics.His fusion of natural andindustrial shapes, along with his use of color and texture, draws theviewer to his pieces created from these two mediums. This youngartist creates a balance between the two, and the pieces are at onceboth a study in the separate mediums and integrated works of art.Hibbard’s unique sculptures are gaining attention in the artworld. His public works, outdoor sculptures, have people takingnotice. He has recently acquired professional representation inNew York City and is in the process of scheduling gallery showingsof his works. Hibbard still lives and works in the environmentthat inspired him in his youth and continues to inspire him,Buffalo, New York.Website: http://www.michaeljhibbard.com/gallery.php28 ArtisSpectrum

Le SecretOil on Wood 61”x 48”RogerRenardAs a child Roger Renard’s eyesfixed on a single point of color withina single painting in the midst ofa large exhibition. Not long after,those same eyes were entranced bythe work of Salvador Dalí, whoselight Renard says helped him findhis own. Years later, his restorationwork allowed him to imbibethe brushstrokes of past masters,while his autodidacticism left hismind free enough to apprehend theworld in figurative terms—a psychological trait that inspires himto paint with aplomb in modes varying from impressionistic tosurreal to pure abstraction (and to have created a series of “grandstableaux” that sometimes combine all three).Renard’s work displays a comprehensive use of color and afree play of form that evinces itself in even his more traditionalwork. His oeuvre ranges from photo-like landscapes to Klimtesqueportraits to phantasmagoria worthy of Dalí himself. Allof this Renard holds in a single aperçu, “I always search for thepoint of equilibrium,” he says, “the true emotional center of thelight of the soul, which I want to share with lovers of art.”Website: http://www.roger-renard.orgNaveedWazirAliThe Khori Garden Bazar, KarachiWatercolor on Paper 28”x20”Naveed Wazir Ali is a Pakistaniartist whose work issteeped in the rhythms anddetails of his native culture.In Ali’s watercolors, oils oncanvas, pen and inks, andsketches, scenes of townsand villages from his countrycome alive with delicatebrushstrokes and luminouspastel and earth tones. “As apainter, I want to save our culture, tradition, and history in theshape of paintings,” Ali says. “It’s a very heavy responsibility forme and other national painters to save and secure this history.”Ali translates his culture’s history into beautiful realistic paintingsand sketches. His late father, Wazir Ali, was one of Pakistan’spremier painters, and he began training his son in many differenttechniques and mediums at an early age. Exhibited both nationallyand internationally , Naveed Ali’s art leaves the viewer with aspecial feeling that can only be imparted by good and real art.Website: http://www.nwa-arts.com29 ArtisSpectrum

Wisdom at PlayOil on Canvas 24”x 30”MaureenOliverMaureen Oliver’s paintingscould be describednot merely as suspendedreality, but as anotherdimension of reality.They encompass thevividly swirling colors,textures and perspectivesof modern art, but inmore recognizable story forms. A viewer will be mesmerized bythe human drama, while still experiencing a universal interest inwishing to know more about the character. No photograph couldrelay the coldness of pain or the warmth of sun as well as Oliver’spalette and passion, and in this, she displays her total convictionto emotion.Spirituality-based themes are often found in Oliver’s work,yet are comprised and blended with mythological and Catholicimagery. Her works expertly reflect a lifetime of art fromthe instinctive pursuing of it as a child, to training professionallyin history and theory. Maureen Oliver is a native Londonerwho resides and exhibits her work throughout Englandwhile pursuing the goal of spiritually reaching people withher art.Website: http://www.maureenoliver.comAtousa ForooharySunset Oil on Canvas 24”x48”The stunning landscapes of Atousa Foroohary bring to mind thework of impressionist masters, their glimpses of life frozen intime. Indeed, Foroohary describes her artistic intention as “capturingthe world through my hands with the miracle of colors.”Working with oil on canvas, she layers both vibrant and mutedtones to create a textured representation of a given scene, allowingcolor and depth to convey the shifting sunlight as it playsacross natural features such as the earth, water, plant life, andsky. Innate characteristics of these elements are highlighted byher technique, with mountains appearing craggy, the surface ofwater smooth, and leaves wispy and light. The resulting imagesare delightful, capable of transporting the viewer into the pristineand majestic world her brush skillfully depicts, a world inspiredby the untouched beauty of the Canadian outdoors.Website: http://www.myartclub.com/atousa.forooharyCarolineMarsJohn R.MathWaterAcrylic on Canvas Panel12”x12”The work of CarolineMars presents an intriguingcombination of Easternand Western artistic traditions.Born and educatedin Amsterdam, Mars hasspent the last decade livingin Japan and Hong Kong.This Asian influence is readily apparent in her work, which combinesminimalism and representational techniques drawn fromChinese painting and ikebana with other mixed media and acrylicpaint on canvas. Zen philosophy looms large in Mars’ creations,and she hopes “that other people can rebalance by looking” ather work, which is strongly inspired by the five elements—water,metal, wood, earth and fire. In their directness and beauty, her imagesact as meditative devices, allowing us to escape into a moreharmonious and grounded world than the one in which we currentlyreside. This is happily in keeping with the artist’s intentionto “inspire the world to a new lifestyle—simplicity”.Website: http://www.asianelements.nlAt the LakeDigital Photography 16”x 20”Photographer JohnR. Math distills theworld down to itsabstract essence. Hissubjects shed theirloyalties to other senses--to smell, sound, and tactility--and wesee them reborn as nothing but visual sensations. If the naturalobjects in Math’s work easily take to this abstraction, then inthe manmade objects one can sense resistance to this process.That which is manmade fights back against the wave of motionto which Math subjects them. Made by humankind, they stubbornlystrive to retain their material identity. There is drama inthis dance, as they are encouraged to merge with the process. Butmotion and light are primary here, while the weight and utility ofthese objects becomes secondary to their visual essences.There is undeniable beauty in John R. Math’s images, borneout of subjecting the material world to the sublime visual experiencewrought by his camera.Website: http://www.johnrmath.com30 ArtisSpectrum

Paul GuGaze at a given Paul Gu paintingand your eye is immediatelyawash in a dominant color.The image crystallizes as youtake in the work’s other lessprevalenthues. Soft, flowinglines form simple, sinuous demarcationsthat reveal gentlyelegant figures. His techniquewith oils on canvas captures inequal measure the movementimplicit in his subjects and thelight that frames them, leavinglittle work for the imaginationDancing as Peacockin the apprehension of sunlightOil on Canvas 36”x 24”or a dance.Born Gu Tao, given name Tang Sheng, Huang Xiao Heng,Paul Gu grew up in the Hunan province of China, whose landscapesand history inform his sensibilities. After graduatingfrom the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, he was invited to jointhat prestigious art school’s faculty. But it was in 1996 at theUniversity of Lyons that Gu was immersed in the world of theFrench masters. This exposure was the copestone in the formationof his technique, a unique commingling of impressionismand traditional Chinese imagery.Website: http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Paul_Gu.aspxFlowMixed Media on Canvas 52”x 60”RoniPintoIsraeli painter andmixed media artistRoni Pinto is interestedin the big questions.Her work is meditative;abstract figuresand shapes drift andfloat in a ghostly, otherworldlyspace. Pintouses music as a doorwayinto her art and it is this movement into- and then thru- thatone sees in her work. She often incorporates small amounts oftext, lovely Hebraic script, lending more to the impression thatshe is working towards something spiritual and ancient.Of course Pinto’s work is thoroughly contemporary; she usesunexpected materials in her mixed media pieces, glow in the darkwire, for example, that makes the work kinetic as well as graceful.Pinto received a B.A. in Art at Ben-Gurion University in Israel.Since then she has taught art and art history in Israel, New York,and New Jersey. She has shown her work across Europe andin New York.Website: http://www.ronipinto.com31 ArtisSpectrum

ElieBouZeidanLebanese painterElie Bou Zeidan’slandscapes, stilllifes,and portraitsdisplay a FrenchRococo influence,The Marina Oil on Canvas 18”x21.5”but they also resonatewith the visualriches which surrounded him growing up in the farming regionof Bekaa. His education took place first in war-torn Lebanon andthen the countryside of France, where he was able to devote himselfto his artistic development.Bou Zeidan’s art resides in capturing the understated dramain scenes of quietude: His rendering of the heat of bare rocksand the ripples of seawater, the sly spilling of a rowboat’s coloronto wave tips or the black of a shoreline cut by masts. There is aconfidence to his works, as he points out what happens when lightand water and land converge. Elie Bou Zeidan has also paintedreligious works and French building façades, and has been livingin Paris for 15 years, where he works in pastels, Chinese ink, andoil on linen canvas, or wood.Website: http://www.eliii.comValentinaSaninaCarnival - SmileAcrylic on Canvas 24”x 16”32 ArtisSpectrumValentina Sanina describes herwork as “human art for humanlives”—a description whose simplicitybelies the depth of meaningbehind it.Married to the seeminglystraightforward façades of thesubjects of her oils and acrylicsare pathways inviting investigationsof their psyches: a maskedreveler seems hidden from herself;a harpist’s music bears her upas she plays, stirring the boughs ofa tree. The romantic tradition upon which Sanina draws and hergentle, delicate use of color means that a painting portraying adark psychological nook might find a home in a brightly-lit nursery(alongside books of fairy tales whose deeper meanings are fartoo mature for children).Born in Ukraine, Sanina was formally educated in the SovietUnion, where she became a celebrated muralist and was elected afellow of the prestigious Art Society of the former U.S.S.R. Herwork has been published and exhibited throughout the UnitedStates and as far away as Japan.Website: http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Valentina_Sanina.aspx

Carolinade PanfilisHubertCanceVenezuelan artist Carolinade Panfilis takes immensepleasure in the processof creation and it shows.Her abstract paintingsEl Toroare joyful and intenselyAcrylic on Canvas 43”x43”passionate. The work’svibrancy saturates the eye, seethes with richness. It is easyto see the influence Venezuela has had on her work; color and linerise like heat rippling over the landscape of South America.Born to a Venezuelan mother and a father who spent much ofhis life in France, de Panfilis grew up under the influence of thesetwo cultures, the merging of which gave birth to her unique style.She walks a fine line beautifully; one can sense a freedom in herbrush stroke and yet her controlled palette creates balance allowingthe viewer the space to catch their breath.Carolina de Panfilis works intuitively, her guiding principlesbeing simplicity and emotion. Her works have been exhibitedmost recently in Maracaibo, Venezuela and Florida.Website:http://www.cdepanfilis.comHubert Cance is an artist with adraftsman’s hand and eye. Hiswork ranges from fantasy explorationsof the worlds of mysticismand shamanism to highly formalizedaviation drawings and mechanicalrepresentations. The mostrecognizable aspect of Cance’s artis the way he applies the stricttenets of mechanical design toFiredrawings of machines, warriors,Acrylic on Paper 16.5”x 11.5” and scenes that exist only in hisamazing imagination.Cance is equally at home depicting realistically drawn soldiersand military paraphernalia as soft pine tree landscapes. Witha unique mix of Asian style and Gaelic culture Cance createswindows that communicate another way of viewing the worldand understanding nature. His “Felementale” drawing series isthe artist’s interpretation of the essential spirits of the earth ingentle, feminine forms. Hubert Cance was born in Aurillac, inthe Auvergne Valley region of France. The area, with its medievalfortifications and castles, has left an indelible mark onthe artist’s vision.Website: http://www.hubertcance.comSelf-portrait, universal portrait...Mixed Media on Wood 32”x 26”ERCFrench artist Eric RieussetCros has a sense of humorand a keen sense of design.With influences ranging fromPop Art to Postmodernism,his contemporary art is intellectual,well executed, anddiverse. Cros’ work takesmany shapes and formsvividacrylics on canvas,print work on aluminum, mosaics from shards of mirror. Hehandles a varied palette of materials skillfully and takes obviouspleasure in communicating with his viewer making his workintriguing and dense.There’s always more to Cros’ work than you first realize. Hisgraphic design work is playful and often incorporates text, takingthe form of puzzles or game boards, but one perceives Cros’social or cultural commentary quickly. Since his emergence in2003, Cros has had numerous solo and group shows in Europeand the United States and his work has been featured in severalpublications.Website: http://www.erc-gallery.comLucky CountryAcrylic on Canvas 40”x 40”SallyWestAlthough Sally West’s workis lovely from a distance,nearness increases its brilliancy.The asymmetrical,uniform tempo of her paintingsoffer more allure whenappreciated “up close andpersonal”. It’s difficult to attributethe richness to simpleacrylic colors; with West’s touch, expert layering vies with thesophistication of mosaics.West prefers to paint with her canvas on the ground, as it isreminiscent of youthful drawing with sticks and stones in Outbackdirt. The remoteness and wonderment of the environment, alongwith multi cultural Australian heritage and worldwide travel, ledher to develop a unique technique influenced by native aboriginalstyles. West alludes to nature in such a way as to allow her audienceto feel-and not just view-its elements.Believing that art is her calling, Sally West’s dedicationreminds us that our world is exhilarating, with unimaginablechoices. She currently lives in Australia with her two daughters,where she has exhibited and won numerous awards.Website: http://www.sallywestart.com33 ArtisSpectrum

Artistic Practices:Expecting the UnexpectedBy Donna L. Clovissingle bulb casts light in a darkenedA lecture hall of Tisch School of the Artsin New York City during the 2007 InternationalArt Symposium, an academic conferenceon global art practice. Upon closerexamination, the sculpture-like body liesstill across a table with hair sprawled andbloodied hands. Bent over and half nudefrom the waist down, it is a body in performance.One of the few artists appearing atacademic art conferences any more, DonnaClovis stands up after fifteen minutesof silent performance and lectures aboutthe importance of art in communities andspaces, such as conferences, where artistsare now forgotten.Gerald Pryor, artist and New York UniversityProfessor, uses his nude body as a measureof the outside world in a performancecalled, Mason Twine, A Body Measure,at the Grace Exhibition Space in Brooklyn,New York. The mason twine, a chordhistorically used for measuring objects,is connected to Pryor. The mason twineis cut and gathered to create drawings onthe wall, while live video feed is projectedduring and after the performance.“I did things that I didn’t know I woulddo,” said Pryor, “Bringing the surveyortape into the audience and wrapping themwas an unexpected part of the performance.”Winner of two NEA Awards, a New YorkFoundation grant, and a Gottlieb Foundationgrant, Pryor has performed, exhibited,curated and taught internationally for over30 years in countries like China, South Korea,Italy, England, and the United States.Artist Lyle Ashton Harris incorporatesinstallation, video, and photography in hiswork with himself as subject. His identitybasedphotographs of the 1990’s explorerace, gender, and sexuality through strategieslike masquerade, camp humor, andthe family snapshot. Of his recent work,Holland Cotter of the New York Timeswrote: “Like most really stimulating art,Mr. Harris’s eludes clean readings. It is34 ArtisSpectrumself-portraiture that is not quite self-portraiture,based on fiction that is not quitefiction.” His work has been included atthe Whitney Museum and will be part ofthe upcoming Venice Biennale in Italy in2007.This blurring of boundary, artistic practiceunexpected by the artist in the momentof performance, in unexpected spaces, inportraiture, not quite portraiture based onfiction not quite fiction, represents artisticpractices that challenge the norm.The TransdiasporaCurator Pritika Chowdhry of the Universityof Wisconsin, brings together twentytwoartists in an exhibition called, VisceralMappings: Transdiasporic Art Practices.Here, artist Megan Katz uses latex andcondom to cover fruits placed on a longtable. Artist Wendy Mirnov creates teethlinedporcelain bowls and artist HyunahKim makes ruptured skin porcelain bowlsset around as place settings. Artist AliceM. Unger places ceramics torsos clothedin silk corsets and seats them on highstools around the table at place settings.The exhibit conceptualizes a non-traditionalinstallation inspired by the curatorialstrategies of Fred Wilson, a creator of newexhibition contexts for the display of artand artifacts found in museum collectionsby non-traditional pairings and groupingsof objects. His installations lead viewersto recognize that changes in context createchanges in meaning.The term transdiaspora, created by Chowdhry,is divorced from essentialist notionsof race, gender, religion, or ethnicity, lendingitself to experimental re-interpretations.Transdiaspora includes artists thatclaim diasporic status based on migrationinto the United States as well as Americanartists who have traveled outside ofthe United States living in other countriesas part of the American diaspora abroad.Lesbian and gay populations may be diasporizeddue to social exile and ostracizationbased upon the writings of scholarssuch as Alan Sinfield, Gayatri Gopinathand Cindy Patton. Transdiasporic positionsalso include survivors of violencewho experience internal exile resulting inself-estrangement. It is currently arguedthat online communities are a highly cohesivebut a non-traditional diasporic formationas well.The exhibit has been selected by the NationalWomen’s Studies Association totravel from Wisconsin in April 2007 toChicago, Illinois for the annual conferencein June 2007.Nowadays, artists can be found anywhere,anytime, in real or virtual time and spacetransforming original perceptions of art.Artistic practices and communities arechanging quickly and globally, blurringold boundaries into new unexpected ideasand works reflecting the individuality andexperimentation of art by the artists.

Paula JTymchukCarolineValentiTurning Digital Photography 19”x 25”Form and light are paramount in the alluring images capturedby Paula J. Tymchuk, who describes herself as a multidisciplinaryartist, storyteller, and filmmaker. She works in a variety of media,including photography, paint, and film, to investigate and representthe world around us through “beauty, grace, and color.”Focusing on the way forms—particularly human bodies—areaffected by light and shadow, she renders the everyday as unfamiliar,prompting viewers to intuitively reconsider the resultingfigures.For this Canadian artist, art serves as a universal language;she strives to “find simplicity and raw human emotion and to inspirepeople to look beyond what is presented to them.” Paula J.Tymchuk has received a number of artistic awards in both fineart and film. She has recently published a book of photographsentitled “Freedom within the Skies.” Which is currently availableon her website http://www.roguestormarts.com.01Photographic Print 24”x 16”Caroline Valenti creates simple, alluringphotographs that vividly depictan altered state of existence. Herimages convey more informationthan would be expected from a stillphotograph, often hinting throughthe subject’s expression or posture tonebulous events not directly visible inthe frame. Light plays a crucial role, illuminating and occasionallyblurring—without digital enhancement—telltale features ofa given scene, adding life and depth to the captured moment. Thisemphasis on light is not surprising given the artist’s background.Born and raised in Perth, Australia, Valenti’s most profoundchildhood memories involve “soft lines from the sun, the harshlines of the land, and the reflections from the ocean.” She nowoperates in both film and digital media, and her work has receivednumerous awards and been featured in various exhibitions andpublications throughout Australia and the United States.Website:http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Caroline_Valenti.aspxA Woman, a man or a human #7Mixed Media 48”x 90” x 48”JolantaPaterekJolanta Paterek’s mixed-media creationscan be intimidating. Theircompounds of material and foundobjects contort outward, boldlyconfronting the viewer, who mayfind him- or herself lesser in sizeand pure presence than the workof art itself. And yet the viewer isdrawn in by caliginous tones andenclaves of shadow. Twisted humanforms and segments evincethemselves, often not without a hintof blood. A theme that seems toobsess Paterek is what it is to be ahuman, to exist as something with an undeniable physical reality inthe world, a body, a mystery containing within its recesses somethingunseeable and haunting, a spirit trapped but transcendent.Paterek holds an MFA in mixed media from Georgia SouthernUniversity. She is currently a full-time instructor at GeorgiaPerimeter College and has been included in Who’s WhoAmong American Teachers. She has given outside lectures ontopics ranging from women’s art from a historic standpoint tocontemporary trends in art.Website:http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Jolanta_Paterek.aspxThe WishPastel on Canvas 34”x 25”L’ORThere is something aboutQuébécoise L’OR’s pastels thattransfix the eye. Fluid layersof fine, semi-translucent colorscreate an intense and vibrantpalette, but with a lilting quality,an unexpected fragility. Thereis an emotional transparencyin L’OR’s work that, howeversubtle, is unmistakable. A portraitartist working exclusivelywith live models, she succeedsin communicating her subject’sspiritual temperature through gossamer layers of color. The textureof her chosen medium, on canvas or velvet paper, combinedwith her impressionistic use of light creates a sometimes lusty,sometimes brilliantly agonizing effect.L’OR studied art and graphic design at Collége Marie-Victorinand Concordia University. She has shown widely in EasternCanada, the United States, and France and has won severalcompetitions. L’OR is president of L’Association l’Art en Soi inQuebec and is involved extensively with the pastel movement inCanada and abroad.Website: http://www.louiseprouleau.com35 ArtisSpectrum

continued from pg. 17Moon (Broken Art)Your life and my life flow into eachother as wave flows into wave, andunless there is peace and joy andfreedom for you, there can be no realpeace or joy or freedom for me. Tosee reality--not as we expect it tobe but as it is--is to see that unlesswe live for each other and in andthrough each other, we do not reallylive very satisfactorily; that there canreally be life only where there reallyis, in just this sense, love.- Frederick Buechner (b. 1926)People with MS often feel as though they have let their familyand close friends down, and that they are somehow responsiblefor developing the disease. Particularly vulnerable are youngmothers (the group most commonly diagnosed with MS) whooften feel a tremendous sense of guilt for not being able tocarryout their usual work within the family. Although, I haveno children it is still mistakenly easy to feel a profound sense ofculpability for having MS.My artwork is about bringing unity to myself. It is about listeningto instead of shouting at reality. It is also about triggering mymind’s unconscious thought processes toward healing--by payingattention to and making sense of the normally silent, repressedand often time distant elements within myself. Because I am alsotrained as a neuroscientist and believe that the mind plays a rolein healing the body, I am approaching my art as an experiment.It begs the question do we have more control over our healththan we appreciate? And if so, how might a person harness thatcontrol? Perhaps, by letting go of control entirely--the paradox ofcombating chronic stress and depression?There are presently thirty-four abstract (non-representation)paintings on BrokenArtGallery.com, but I will discuss threebriefly (with sister images) so that you might better understand“Wakeful Dreaming” --my invented “Healing Ritual” ofunplanned creativity and imagination. Often times my analysisis personal and would only have significance to me, but thesethree paintings (and sister images) can be understood on severaldifferent levels.but in a broad sense I now have come to understand the painting asthe moment when human life begins--the act of fertilization (eggand sperm), two genotypes discovering one another and settinginto motion the algorithm of a human life. I decided to name thepainting “Discovery” after a famous quotation by Albert Szent-Gyorgi (1893-1986) who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology andMedicine in 1937. My paintings are about ideas and questions, notnecessarily answers--how might the viewer interpret the painting“Discovery?” Does it convey the importance of a scientificdiscovery--perhaps a cure for the disease MS brought about byfetal stem cell research? Or, does “Discovery” convey faith andthe recognition of a human life begun? My wakeful dreams allowme to communicate with another part of myself, but I also hopethat my finished paintings may make viewers think about someof the same questions and ideas. The painting “Discovery” causesme to think deeper on the question of stem cell research andethical concerns. Certainly, fetal stem cell research may benefitpeople with MS tremendously, but it also raises ethical questionsthat we must confront together as a society and as individuals.Regardless, stem cell research is a very timely topic with regardto healing and one that I believe my unconscious psyche hasgiven some thought to.Rainforest (original painting and digital painting)“The point is that nobody knows. Things like the weather are so subtle, and what effectthe rainforest has on any of that stuff - oxygen, all the things that you hear about, the bigscares - it’s not known. But as long as it’s not known, it’s not a good idea to rip them upand tear them down, you know what I mean?”- Jerry Garcia (1942 - 1995)Discovery (original painting and digital painting)“Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no oneelse has thought.”- Albert Szent-Gyorgi (1893-1986), 1937 Nobel Laureate in Medicine1) The painting “Discovery” is an abstraction that I created withoutplanned conscious symbolic intent (as are all my paintings),2) Once again, created without planned intent, I interpret thepainting “Rainforest” as the global act of deforestation--thecutting, burning and irretrievable extinction of our planet’s mostvaluable and underappreciated resource, biological diversity. Weare losing medicinal plants, insects and other species that mayultimately hold the cures for diseases like MS at an unprecedentedpace. As a scientist who is also afflicted with an incurable disease,this issue is very close to me. I see the deforestation of the world’srainforests (and loss of biological diversity) as the single mostimportant environmental issue of our time, and I feel symbolicallylinked to global deforestation and the burning rainforests withevery passing day through the demyelination of nerve cells thatis continuing unabated within my own body--someone shouldlisten. I named this painting “Rainforest” after a relativelyobscure quotation by Jerry Garcia (1942 - 1995) an AmericanSongwriter and Musician who formed the Grateful Dead band.36 ArtisSpectrum

The final selection of artwork is called “Escape.”“We can escape the commonplace only by manipulating it, controlling it, thrusting it intoour dreams, or surrendering it to the free play of our subjectivity.”- Raoul Vaneigem (b. 1934- )“One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escapefrom everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness,from the fetters of one’s own ever-shifting desires.”- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)3) I understand the painting “Escape” as a conversation I continueto have with the unconscious part of myself through wakefuldreams--it is about finding an escape from the disease MS. Muchlike seeing the ocean and clouds from a hijacked airplane, “Escape”addresses the questions that I believe most people with MSask themselves “How can I escape?” “Why is my body attackingitself?” “Does some part of me know the answer?” and “Can Iregain control?” I named this painting “Escape” after a quotationby Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the renowned physicist and manof the 20th Century. In addition, each separate painting withinthe three paneled “Escape” carries it’s own name from left toright “Dreams,” “Report,” “Disease” each taken from a separatequotation by Julie Cameron, William Shakespeare, and HilaireBelloc respectively.Art can be stimulating to both eye and mind, and canprovide us with an opportunity to heal ourselves and others.In a drawing Leonardo da Vinci executes a masterful diagramwith an engineer’s precision of his legendary flying machine.Unfortunately, many people with MS lose their ability to do thevery fine hand-eye coordination required in representational artand may stop doing art in frustration, but abstract art does notplace as high a barrier to disabled people with limited handeyemotor control and provides the same therapeutic benefits.Leonardo da Vinci once referred to art as being “the Queen of allsciences.” --a Queen who offers not simply an alternative approachto obtaining knowledge, but also a way of sharing that knowledgewith the world. Although MS has affected my hands to somedegree, I choose to do abstract art not because of my reduceddexterity, but because abstraction is the only style of art that canbe executed without planned intent, and therefore a way for meto dream.Although it is likely that a person with MS will have a boutof depression at some point during their illness, a recent studyhas shown that most individuals achieve a positive sense ofself-worth that continues throughout life. Even so, seriousclinical depression is real, and can be a side effect of some MSmedications. Some studies have suggested that depression inMS might be directly related to damage within certain partsof the brain. Only a physician can assess serious (or clinical)depression and may recommend antidepressant medication and/orpsychotherapy. If a person with MS also has a personal or familyhistory of depression, they should consult with their physicianabout an appropriate treatment. Creating artwork as a form of selfhypnosisor psychotherapy may be an effective way of alleviatingcertain types of depressive symptoms, but should only be exploredunder the professional guidance of a trained therapist.Today, Brett tells us that he’s always trying to follow God’splan for his life. He’s still exploring three ideas that havehelped him manage his MS in a positive way since he wasdiagnosed in 1997—simply having faith, staying creative, andfinding true companionship with friends and helper animals asthe case may be.Brett moved back to his childhood home in Allentown severalyears ago, and with the help of his family has converted hisgarage into his “Broken Art Studio” where he works with otherlocal artists in town. “I’m blessed with a wonderful family andan exciting group of friends. With regard to seeing the CURE forMS, anything is possible!”Visit Brett, Sophia & their friends at:http://www.BrokenArtGallery.comIf you would like to learn more about the National MS Society orDr. Weber’s support classes on the healing art of creativity pleasecontact BrokenArtGallery33@hotmail.com.* Dr. Brett Curtis Weber, an artist and neuroscientist currentlyliving in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is a member of the NationalArts Program and National Multiple Sclerosis Society. His workis shown in galleries internationally, and can be seen on BrokenArtGallery.comwhich hosts over 300 artists worldwide whosupport the fight against MS. Dr. Weber has also been a memberof the board of directors of the Da Vinci Art Alliance in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania and works towards expanding the creativeand healing potential of all human beings through art.37 ArtisSpectrum

Crucifixion 2Oil on Canvas 88”x 48”PanosEvangelopoulosThe Byzantine heritage of PanosEvangelopoulos and the modernart he encountered during childhoodsojourns in Europe coexist inhis sensibilities. He revels in everypainter’s right to conceive “his orher own alphabet from A to Z.” Heallows the concrete and the abstractto mingle freely. He believes in dialectic,in the play of opposites, andprojects this onto canvas. He describesthe light of his native Greeceas “a big explosion...too bright, tooviolent,” and yet his paintings aredrenched in it. His backgrounds areoften composed of tesserae of color—oreven text—on top of whichline-drawn figures stand in relief, conveying a dynamism whosesource is hard to pin down but nonetheless apparent. He strivesto give a life to his subjects that they acquire outside the paregonand in the mind and soul of the viewer.Evangelopoulos graduated with honors from Aristotelio University.His education and background enable him to instruct studentsin everything from painting and color theory to gilding andmetalwork.Website:http://www.art-mine.com/ArtistPage/Panos_Evangelopoulos.aspxPainting 001Acrylic on Canvas 36”x 30”AnneElisabethHogh“An abstract painting is notwhat you see,” says AnneElisabeth Hogh, “it is whatit makes you feel.” She alsospeaks of the necessity of expression,the desire, the obsession.A childhood spent on thecoast of Denmark revealed toHogh the ever-changing natureof light, and she bringsthis afflatus to every work shecreates. She expresses herselfin layers of acrylic, and her artroils and shimmers with a primalurgency that borders on aggression. But each viewing opensitself up for renewed contact. “Let the paintings lead you, andthen look again,” she instructs. “The light changes, and suddenlyyou see something else.”Hogh’s canvases are suspended from their frames by metallacings, allowing the viewer to approach each piece as an internalphenomenon suspended outside the self. And Hogh meansfor each painting to stake for itself a place outside of pastand future—capturing a present moment, the time and placewhere life is.Website: http://www.americanindustrialart.comThe frame is Frank Lloyd Wright’smasterpiece of modern architecture.The art inside includes a worldrenownedpermanent collection ofworks by artists such as Chagall,Kandinsky, Picasso, Van Gogh, andother modern masters.Plus changing exhibitions that arealways significant and intriguing.5th Ave at 89th St Information 212 423 3500Sat-Wed 10-5:45; Fri 10-8 www.guggenheim.com38 ArtisSpectrum

Renaissance Acrylic on Masonite 24”x48”PatriciaBrintlePatricia Brintle’s childhood in Haiti is clearly evidenced in herexotic weavings of vibrant color, symbolism, and form. Everythingin life is motivation for her images, including internal andexternal experiences, dreams, and feelings. Completely driven byartistic response to these insights, Brintle employs varied mediumsto achieve the true rendering of the painting’s character or toreflect her subject’s life story.A viewer will feel the emotion and sensuality in Brintle’swork, and will relate to the universal pleasures depicted. Movementand joy resonate beneath the images, even in her more seriousrenderings. Brintle’s use of definitive lines and shapes, andher emphasis on character’s eyes, create a comfortable partnershipwith her audience; her 30 year career in private showingsreflects this achievement.She has also exhibited publicly in New York and Florida,and currently has a year-long showing at the Holocaust Center ofTemple Judea in Manhasset.Website: http://www.patriciabrintle.comFlaschengeistOil on Canvas 57”x 34”Ilonavan HoekBorn in Berlin, Germany, Ilonavan Hoek has had a lifelong fascinationwith art, the tactile natureof the practice, the paint and thebrushes. However, it is the psychologicaland story-telling capabilitiesin art that are fundamental toher particular style. “I try to showstories in my presentations of art,”she explains, “the paintings developthrough engagement of mythoughts.”Van Hoek’s works explore thegamut of human emotion, fromlove and hate to joy and despair.With beautiful strokes she creates landscapes of rivers, mountains,and endless skies and within this world plays out a spectacleof human existence. The characters can appear like menacingghouls or angelic innocents, and she compels her audience to takepleasure in discovering the implicit storyline.Van Hoek’s unique style of painting has attracted the interestof the art world, recently acquiring representation in New York.She lives and works in the United States.Website:http://www.artmine.com/ArtistPage/Ilona_van_Hoek.aspxARTisSpectrumARTisSpectrumSubscription InformationGive yourself the gift of contemporary art and receive four issues featuring profiles ofcontemporary art, artists and important articles.NameMailing AddressSubscribe to Artis Spectrum for $16 in the US and $35 for international.Subscribe by sending a check or money order to:ARTisSpectrum Subscriptionsc/o Agora Gallery530 West 25th StreetNew York, NY 1000139 ArtisSpectrum

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