Exhibiting 3 Women Artists Inspired by Nature
Albany Center Gallery presentsTo Wax Natural, featuring
works by Lorrie Freddette, Ali Herrmann, and Fawn Potash , curated by Erika
Klein. Opens May 6 and runs through May 28th. The opening reception will
be held on May 6 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., in conjunction with 1st
Friday. Albany Center Gallery is located at 39 Columbia Street between
N. Pearl and Broadway in downtown Albany, NY.
The title is a take from the idea of to wax poetic. One of the definitions
of this phrase is: To speak in a increasingly influential manner. "Wax",
is an archaic word meaning grow or evolve. And of course then there's wax,
as in the material you all have used in your work. These women have all
used nature to express themselves and have grown and evolved in the process
of creation.
Lorrie Fredette
www.lorriefredette.com
Artist Statement: My sculptures and drawings are inspired by medical
and environmental news stories pulled from today's headlines and historical
sources. Upon choosing an area of focus, such as the swine, avian and Spanish
flus, or the increased incidence of poison ivy with the growth of greenhouse
gases, I set upon a rigorous course of research, gathering images which
I then alter, vet and reject through an elaborate system designed to completely
subvert and distort any likeness to the original source.
Bio: A native of Burlington, Massachusetts, Lorrie Fredette earned
a BFA in sculpture from the Herron School of Art/Indiana University. Recently,
her work has been shown in exhibitions at Mass MoCA, Gallery Ehva in Provincetown,
Massachusetts and the Ruffin Gallery at the University of Virginia, Charolottesville,
Virigina. Awards include MARK 09 and a Strategic Opportunity Grant from
the New York Foundation for the Arts (2010 and
2007 respectively). In 2010, she was on residency at Women’s Studio
Workshop in Rosendale, New York preparing for a site-specific installation
at the Cape Cod Museum of Art opening in June 2011. She lives and works
in New York's Hudson Valley.
Ali Herrmann
www.aliherrmann.com
Artist Statement: My work is heavily influenced by the growth and
decay cycles of nature; though I am most intrigued by the "pods"
I find. Nature is the biggest inspiration in my artwork. Within my paintings,
I reference plants and pods amidst a combination of both representation
and abstraction. As a result, repetitious forms and patterns start to emerge,
creating unique, playful landscapes. Over the last year, I have spent a
great deal of time creating a very unique body of encaustic paintings. Using
a wax medium with a collage technique, I encapsulate papers, seed pods and
dried leaves into my work, which has enabled me to create translucent, luminous,
abstract paintings, unlike any painting process I have ever worked with.
Bio: Ali attended Colgate Univeristy then moved on to graduate
in 1998 with a BFA from Bennington College. She has shown throughout the
Capital Area and Hudson Valley in New York as well as all around the northeast.
In addition her works have been exhibited in Michigan and California. in
2007 Ali attended a residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont.
Over the years she has been included in several collections including: Screen
Gems Productions of Sony Studios in California, The Masie Center in Saratoga
Springs New York, The Laurin Publishing Co., The Red Lion Inn in Massachusetts,
and the Art Collection for Bennington Collegein Vermont.
Fawn Potash
Artist Statement: My recent work shows a growing interest in the
relationship between botanical and human bodies. As global warming becomes
a part of our everyday consciousness, I see the plant realm and ours becoming
one. I am combining anatomical drawings with depictions of the leaves and
weeds flourishing around me.
Some pieces in this series start as a photograph mounted to wood with layers
of inscribed oil drawings in the encaustic surface. Others begin as rice
paper dipped in encaustic medium, creating a transparent skin with imagery
on both sides of the piece.
Bio: Fawn Potash is a studio artist, curator and art educator whose
work is currently shown in New York City, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, New York’s
Hudson Valley and in her hometown, St. Louis. Her work is in collections
worldwide including the Sony, Dow Jones, Standard and Poors Asia, the Bibiliotech
National and Sheraton Hotels, Montreal. Potash’s work has received
grant support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Puffin Foundation,
the Bell Atlantic Foundation, Fuji and Ilford Inc. Her work has appeared
in national and regional publications including Harper’s Magazine,
the Sun Magazine, the New Yorker, Mirabella and Art News. For fifteen years,
she has been an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, leading
a criticism seminar for photography majors. She pioneered a series of photography
workshops for 6-18 year-olds at the Catskill Community Center, teaching
camera and darkroom skills as well as conceptual and visual literacy. Other
art education experiences include multimedia workshops co-sponsored through
the Center for Photography and R&F Handmade Paints as well as art and
garden classes for Catskill’s Summer Recreation Program and after-school
activities. She shaped the workshops at the Center for Photography at Woodstock
over a twelve-year tenure. Other arts administration accomplishments include
three years as curator of the fledgling Catskill Mountain Foundation’s
galleries. She is the Visual Arts Director at the Greene County Council
on the Arts in Catskill NY and Project Coordinator for Masters on Main Street,
a new storefront exhibition program. Upcoming May shows are scheduled at
the Albany Center Gallery and at the Drawing Room in Stone Ridge, NY. She
has recently completed two commissions for the Ulster County Area Transit
and the Woodstock Land Conservancy.
