STEVE IMRICH

STATEMENT

Observing things from above helps me make sense of relationships I might otherwise miss. To visualize a ‘layout’ like a map allows me to play with information extracted to one layer and abstracted in ways to multiply other effects and meanings beyond those directly observed. The experiments with layering are not as literal as collage, but the same process ideas apply to the decisions as the paintings evolve, where intentional definitions meet accidental juxtapositions and develop their own stimulus for a response.

The work in the Sheldon | Imrich exhibit includes a variety of investigations, including sequential observations from a single hike up New Hampshire’s Mt. Lafayette in the fall. Six paintings from the hike called ‘CRACKS’ are based on zoomed-in observations and sketches taken at various geologic strains and erosion areas, as well as new plant regeneration zones between rocks. The ‘CRACK’ paintings imply close range but could easily be interpreted as aerial views.

Also included in the exhibit are pieces characterizing greater distances that are specific to a particular airscape/landscape, where human intervention meets natural phenomena. The sense of location shows in the respective titles such as ‘JOPPA 1’ recalling the Joppa Flats wetlands near Plumb Island/Ipswich, MA, and ‘CLOUD 1 DEN’ recalling Denver area weather. The place ideas reflect time, weather and lighting circumstances that may be consonant to those places. Finally, ‘THERMAL 5’ experiments with the fracturing of the atmosphere related to flying and attempts to give a sense of a turning ascent in a glider above the same hikes in New Hampshire, previously walked, but from the detachment of being at altitude.

Steve Imrich holds a Master of Architecture from MIT and a BA from Goddard College with a concentration in Studio Arts and History. He studied painting, drawing and sculpture at Goddard before focusing on architecture and design studies, and eventually transitioning to painting full time. Steve also has a background as a commercial pilot and many of his paintings recollect memories of landform, atmosphere, and visual elements from aerial vantage. His current work experiments with interactions between designed and natural patterns and how that interaction may characterize a place. Steve lives and paints in Cambridge/Somerville, Massachusetts.

Sheldon/Imrich

Exhibition Artist(s):

Alexandra Sheldon, Steve Imrich

Exhibition Reception Date:

March 10

Exhibition Opening:

February 24

Exhibition End Date:

March 24

Exhibition Year:

2022

ALEXANDRA SHELDON

STATEMENT

COLLAGE IS….
Stuff under, stuff over, things falling into, falling out of. Pieces stuck on, pieces clinging, falling, dragging, thrown down, plotted and heavy. Collage can be light, pretty, angelic, dim and turbulent. Funny, silly, serious, inert, alive, conversational, quiet, peaceful, serene, disorganised, woven, meshed, floating, loud, angry, happy, imbalanced, violent, upset and joyful, realistic or abstract.

Collage is like a water faucet pouring all these words and energies at different times or all at once. I am working in my studio and I’m sieving, explaining, describing and telling with my hands and my eyes. I’m recombining, materialising, shaping and organising from piles of old drawings, prints, painted papers and sometimes trash (envelopes, ads, newspapers, magazines, images and stuff found on the floor of my studio). It’s a windstorm of activity; this sticking of stuff together. Years of exercises, teaching demo’s, sketches, anything, goes into the mix. I sort through piles like a hamster, noisy and industrious, trying combinations, putting colors together, feeling my way toward a resolution.

I feel it in my stomach, whether it’s right or just a possibility. Every move I make in a collage changes everything else. My eyes are working too. Constant looking, constant checking. Putting the work on the wall and standing back. Going close. Standing back again. A corner is weak or vague, not enough or too much. It got too dark. It needs light. It is a process of problem solving. The hands are busy too. As when I close my eyes and try to cut paper shapes without looking much (inspired by my 6 year old grandson who cuts paper shapes with a ferocious and fast unthinking mastery).

It’s a 3 ring circus: hands, eyes and stomach. Usually thoughts only interfere. What helps is to abandon myself to the collaboration with the materials. Does this paper feel right? How is this color next to this other color? The texture is flat here, it needs something.

I want exploration. I want to be surprised in my studio. I want to make things I’ve never made before. I want to push. It feels like channeling and throwing stuff around and allowing accidents to happen.

Artists call it the “Zone”: a getting carried away. Not unlike kayaking where you are pulled along and lots of things happen or nothing much happens but in any case you surrender and are pulled by the current.

It’s a mystery, this urge to make. My hands itch to make. I don’t know why. I don’t ask why anymore. I have been blocked a million times and I’ve developed ways to get in the Zone. So this is what I teach: ways to work and get into a flow.

Alexandra Sheldon is an artist and teacher who lives in Cambridge, MA. She specializes in teaching collage and mixed media.