On November 7th, 2020, we are opening a new show, “RECLAIMED” with local artists Jakub Kalousek and Sofia Carmi. Their show will be up thru January 7th, 2021.

JAKUB KALOUSEK

Standing in an unfamiliar bathroom, tired & naked & wet in a strange shower stall, reaching for the towel only to grab the empty towel rack & accidentally pull it from the moldy plaster wall, so it falls to the tile floor with a clatter. The broken half of cork that drops inside the bottle of wine. The sought-after object of desire trapped behind the thick glass window of a closed shop in a foreign city you are flying out of that night. The misplaced wallet. The loose hinge. The leaky faucet. Driving at night on a country road, suddenly noticing the gas gauge – how long has the needle been on empty? In Jakub Kalousek’s sculpture, the accident has either to yet happened – or it has just happened but the irrevocable consequences have only partially (not entirely) become clear. In the instant before total tragedy, comedy reigns supreme. Leona Shoustakis, “Pair&Thesis” #14, 2012.

SOFIA CARMI

CHAOS AND TRANSCENDENCE: Reclaimed Room Exhibit

Sofia Carmi’s Paintings are created from her impressions of our challenging times using art materials that have been reclaimed and repurposed. Her process of combining torn paper and torn canvas creates an atmosphere that is an excursion into a different realm for Miss Carmi. It captures a feeling of the chaos inherent in the world and her interpretation of it. This technique allows her to explore the intersection of chance and planning. This series utilizes torn paper and torn canvas and acrylic paint as the main medium.

IMAGINARY ARCHAEOLOGY: Dead Sea Scrolls & Global Warming

The Dead Sea Scrolls are painted and interpreted in creative ways, bringing back the past of the actual Dead Sea Scrolls and the memories of Sofia’s travels and her life in Israel, her birthplace. On her last trip in 2018 to the Dead Sea, she went with fellow artist Guy Campbell, who photographed the abandoned Dead Sea area. The Dead Sea remains a spiritual treasure to Miss Carmi and to many, for the beauty of its desert landscape, and for the healing in the mineral waters. Yet, the devastating effects of global warming are alarming. The Dead Sea is shrinking, experiencing both a general lack of rain and devastating floods, like the one which they experienced in the spring of 2018.

The imaginary Dead Sea Scrolls is a response to these beautiful memories and also to facing the harsh reality of global warming.

Please join us for an Opening Reception being held here at the gallery from 5 – 7pm inside Building REsources at 701 Amador Street, San Francisco 94124. The show will be on view thru January 7th 2021.

San Francisco artists Robin Dick and Sandoval explore and celebrate life, love, and loss through mixed media using discarded and found artifacts, reclaimed wood, paper, string, photographs, plastic, metal, and objects from nature. Am I Dead opens Friday, January 10th with refreshments from 5-7pm and will continue to be on view through Feb 21st, 2020.

Circle Study, by Robin Dick

Robin Dick

Using her subtle sense of art and design, Robin invokes complex feelings by blending ordinary and found objects. Motivating her work is a strong desire to work with her hands and communicate artistically in a non-digital medium.

In her constructions, she merges her passion for the aesthetic nature of objects with inspiration from travel, music, the beach, and the many people who’s lives have touched her own.

Robin was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and raised in the Midwest. After some formative years in Colorado, she headed farther west, landing in San Francisco where she’s resided since 1988.

She earned her Bachelors degree in Design from the University of Kansas, with minors in metal smithing and painting, as well as an Associate’s Degree in Design from the Art Institute of Colorado.

Artist Statement

I have always been drawn to the way objects and images make me feel. My process starts with my tendency toward accumulation – the gathering of the silent bits and pieces that occupy my world…clues that might someday speak to me as I search for links between myself and these precious, discarded raw materials.

Sorting through an arsenal of found treasures – mined everywhere from the street, and trash bins, to flea markets, estate sales, and antique stores – I decide which objects I want to use, always searching for an emotional and spiritual connection between myself and these materials.

As I begin to position objects together – adding and subtracting – I move forward, never feeling satisfied until I’ve reached what I feel is a visual absolute. The merging of my personal feelings with the alchemy of textures, color, and materials is key.

Over time, my compositions begin to reveal a nature behind my materials, enabling me to create works that mirror my own feelings and communicate my discoveries to others as well.

It’s rare that a piece is meticulously planned; it’s a very spontaneous process. Though these pieces are outwardly an assembly of visual elements, the work’s origin stems from my intuition and emotions.

Block art 2, by Rondoval

Rondoval

Ron Sandoval’s creative talents are inspired by his passion for paying attention to the the small details and artful beauty of nature, little structures and odd mediums. His childhood dreams of floating fantasies like lilies in a fountain are recreated in his work as an artist, landscape and floral designer, where his imagination and depth of vision are suspended in his works. His breakout was his LACMA installation in 1990, where his recycled use of rose stems as a crucifix, sphere and box, caught the attention of the LA art world and catapulted him onto the Hollywood scene where his pioneering work influenced the floral design industry internationally. Fleurish, his acclaimed Los Angeles design studio on Beverly Blvd, attracted regular clients such as Quincy Jones, Yves Saint Laurent and Judy Knapp.

Artist Statement

My work concentrates on the mythology of process and elements of nature. My installations’ emphasis is in the pockets of natural curiosities and the beauty of their materials. One can reflect, meditate and interact with the importance of recycling. Through this woven balance of mystery and ever changing nature, , we can hear the message of “conserving the life on earth.”

For our next show, we will be featuring textile art by these fine artists: Dale Eastman, Rachel Leibman, Karin Lusnak, Stacey Shuster, Ileana Soto, Sharon Steuer and Ellen Weinstein. The show opens with its opening reception on Friday, September 13th and will run thru November 8th, 2019. We will also host an artist’s talk Sunday, October 6th, from 1 – 3pm. This group of artists was curated by Rachel Leibman and she had this to say of its inspiration: “I have long been enthralled by fiber art – the weavings of indigenous peoples around the world, the quilts of Gee’s Bend, Renaissance tapestries and oriental carpets. Textile work straddles the boundary between craft and art, frequently created for functional purposes, but still with a strong sense of design and imagination. Different regions and tribes have their own unique styles for creating fiber art, often passed down from generation to generation. With globalization and modernization, these traditions are sadly being forgotten. This has encouraged me to sew, weave and dye, and to seek out like-minded people.”

“This exhibit features textile artists who work with reclaimed or recycled materials in creative and surprising ways. These artists approach their artwork with a nod to long established crafts such as sewing, quilting, embroidery and dyeing, but each artist brings a singular and contemporary approach to a traditional, and overwhelmingly women’s, mètier. I have selected artists who work with different types of source materials and produce very different kinds of creations. Some use fabric and thread while others create textiles from non-traditional materials such as discarded moth cocoons or vintage watch parts. Some of the pieces are vibrant and colorful, while others are detailed and meticulous. All are interesting, original and innovative.”

Seeding the future, by Dale Eastman

Dale Eastman

Objects evoke an ambivalence in me. Even still, for more than a decade, I’ve spent half of my time making some sort of object, typically using natural, electronic or salvaged materials. Discarded moth cocoons have been my material of choice for the last several years. Like so many soft sculptures made from fibrous materials, these cocoon pieces constantly shape shift each time they’re moved. While sewing, I sometimes hold the pieces out in front of me, almost a gestational pose, and it’s true that the proliferating, generative nature of the material and the work is as mesmerizing to me as the second hand on a clock. As I sew, I periodically wonder about the point at which a particular artwork began, where it will end, or if it ever will. Isn’t each piece often, in some way, a continuation of another? Some of the cocoons are riddled with holes, allowing the viewer to see both the outside and the inside of the work. For me, though, the artwork’s hollow, lacy ephemerality has an additional focus: the space that arises around the work itself. Could it be that it is this space that I’m most in search of (even longing for?) when I’m creating artwork? Objects are necessary: they define cultural space and provide helpful boundaries that direct and delineate. But they can also circumscribe and calcify; they even risk fitting us with cataracts that blind us to what isn’t yet. That’s a shame because what I’m learning from making objects is that what isn’t is often just as important as what is.

I’m a multimedia artist and a fiction writer who originally trained as a seamstress. Frequently, I combine these practices in order to explore the subtle or overlooked connections between different aspects of our lives. My artwork has been in numerous group and solo shows the San Francisco Bay Area.

daleeastman.com

Temporal Tapestry, by Rachel Leibman

Rachel Leibman

I am a mixed media artist, living and working in San Francisco. After becoming enamored with textile arts during travels around the country and abroad, I taught myself to sew and dye with natural materials. My most recent project is the “Chrono”  series. I make quilts and weavings embroidered with vintage watch parts. I also create textiles by weaving together watch parts with wire and using this new textile to construct tapestries and hanging sculptures.

I love working with watch parts not only because they are beautiful and exquisite, but because they provide such a wonderful metaphor for so many aspects of life. Our stories are bound up in time. No matter what we do, time marches on, leaving us with memories and hopes.

rachelleibman.com

Stepping Out, by Karin Lusnak

Karin Lusnak

Originally from Pennsylvania, I worked as a Research Associate in genetics and molecular biology laboratories at the University of California in Berkeley until retiring in 1998. During this time, I developed an interest in textile arts as a student at Pacific Basin School of Textile Arts and eventually received my MFA from California College of Arts and Crafts, now CCA.

While at CCA I discovered how much I enjoy three-dimensional work. I created “Can’t Becomes Act” sometime after graduation. This piece speaks for itself.

Although my love of fiber art often takes me toward two dimensional pieces, my desire to create something sculptural again coincided with my desire to let things go.  This led me to build a house with thread spools that belonged to my mother, to another dear friend, and to myself.  “Stepping Out” is and will always be filled with memories. The image of the house is often described as a symbol of the self and the figure of the woman represents my effort to move forward.

Another of my pieces, also a house, is built with wine corks and recycled denim. It addresses many issues from politics to personal. A lovely and gentle song based on Paul Gauguin’s painting called “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” served as my inspiration.

“Getting THERE From HERE” describes a personal effort to move forward in life. The letters have an inner structure of sycamore branches covered with layers of fragile, pliable fabric sewn together and representing personal history and the multitude of experiences that compose a life. Bound with colorful silk fiber, the letters stand upright suggesting solidity, strength and perseverance.

KarinLusnak.com

Sanctuario, by Stacey Shuster

Stacey Shuster

My passion for machine quilting started in eighth grade home economics, I love the way you can create warmth and beauty for every day use, transforming old and new fabrics as women throughout the centuries have done. Quilting has largely been women’s work – from slaves in the south to immigrant women in northeast mill towns to plantation wives and pioneer women to contemporary art quilters – all with little recognition.

For this exhibit, I used donated quilts, fabric pieces and scraps to refashion them into entirely different creations. Inspired by traditional quilt patterns as well as the Gee’s Bend quilting collective of Alabama, I aim to demonstrate ways in which reclaimed fabrics focus on the current immigrant experience. As with the Underground Railroad, quilts can be used to guide endangered immigrants to safety and sanctuary. I want my quilts to tell stories that reflect and comment upon what is happening in the larger world.

Women’s Work: Creativity, by Ileana Soto

Ileana Soto

Art has always been a theme, from the use of thread and color under the guidance of my Romanian grandmother, to a degree in Art History, from a year’s study at the California College of Art and Craft (now California College of Art) to the use of art therapy as a communication tool in my previous work as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I’ve created textile art in the forms of woven cloth, fiber sculptures, sewn collages, pieced quilts, and now “art quilts”.

I am passionate about bringing the themes of culture, community and Climate Change/Crisis to an “alert” stage for viewers of my pieces. I discover, inform, and encourage activism through a process of internal and external artistic expression.

My work is tied to a commitment to personal deepening and exploration. I strive to create a dialogue between myself and the cloth as I develop the piece. Layers are generated, reflected in the layering of dye, of paint, of cloth over cloth. Once the piece is completed, I listen to the viewer’s perspective and participate in that dialogue.

With my invitation to join the “Women’s Work” exhibit, I have become interested in the use of recycled materials. Each piece is done on an originally white vintage cotton or linen textile, adding fused elements that were given to me, or recycled from my own original printed fabrics, “left over” from other art pieces. I enjoyed the layering of history, known and unknown. There will be more of these pieces in my future!

My mentors include surface design artist Jane Dunnewold, Dutch batik artist Els Van Baarle, quilter and artist Angie Woolman (she has been my quilter for over 12 years), and educator/founder of Formative Psychology, Stanley Keleman, now deceased. They, coupled with my personal work in therapy, help me focus, articulate, and form an expression of the complexity of our actions as they influence our internal and external worlds.

ileanasoto.com

I Will Fly Away, by Sharon Steuer

Sharon Steuer

For more than thirty-five years I’ve explored techniques that allow me to move back and forth between traditional and digital tools to merge painting, drawing, printmaking and collage. In the two smaller works from my ongoing “Letters From My Father” series I recreate imaginary worlds of childhood from adult chaos. Objects and letters sent to me as a child by my estranged father form the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) background for these works. “Branded By Her Genetic Mutation” is from my “For Our Own Good” series that poses taboo questions surrounding medical privacy and genetic surveillance. In 2011, I was diagnosed with a BRCA1 genetic mutation through my Jewish ancestry. With an exponentially increased risk of developing ovarian and/or breast cancer, medical professionals advised significant surgery and genetic surveillance “for my own good.” “Branded” is a unique monoprint-transfer created by digitally collaging a watercolor-pencil drawing with a portion of my genetic code (downloaded from an unsuccessful attempt by Myriad Pharmaceuticals to patent my genetic mutation).

sharonsteuer.com

Over Under 1, by Ellen Weinstein

Ellen Weinstein 

My art is driven by my extensive interest in textiles. I sew, quilt, weave, dye, paint and print on fabrics. My ex-mother-in-law, Barbara Eiko (Hiura) Fukuchi shared her Japanese/Hawaiian culture and fabric, warm smile and oishii (tasty) tsukemono with me. She inspired my interest in Japanese art, specifically textiles. I fell in love with Shibori tie-dyeing after seeing an exhibit curated by Yoshiko Wada many years ago. Recently, I have been learning Japanese language and calligraphy, which enhances my artistic perspective and is incorporated into my art.

In this exhibit, I deconstructed vintage Japanese kimonos and textiles to create unique appliqué art and noren curtains. Noren are fabric dividers hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows. I appreciate that they are functionally designed to serve as signs with store names and logo, protect store goods from the elements, be room dividers, and beautify homes. My art is not strictly traditional. I embrace an aesthetic of random surprise and create art that is imperfect, with elements of East and West cultures.

For the past 30 years, I have taught art to children of all ages at the de Young Museum, Legion of Honor, and Clarendon Elementary School in San Francisco. I have a degree in Drawing and Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute.

For the show Re-Visions, San Francisco based artists Danielle Satinover and Gregory Vernitsky bring a school of creative thought together. Both artists take a similar approach to the idea of found materials and come from a background where the financial ability to source materials for work was very limited. Vernitsky, originally from the Soviet Union with limited resources to artist materials, and Satinover by a lifetime restricted by socio-economic circumstances, have instilled in them the skills to see something in the ordinary and often discarded. Both artists have been able to see beyond the ordinary to discover new interpretations.

Tall Bird, by Gregory Vernitsky

Vernitsky combines carved and painted found wood, tossed metal, and plastic into a joyful play with time, scale, and narrative. Concepts and structures of public art, relativity of meaning, and reflection on human frailty and feelings, are realized through his innate ability to see possibilities in things as simple as a block of wood, or grace in a rusty scrap of metal.

Rattlesnake, by Danielle Satinover

Satinover also plays with concepts of the human condition but focuses more on the connection between humans and our environments and structures.  She often takes discarded man made items to create abstract forms. Her current work has been more descriptive, but still plays with the tensions between man’s creations and natures.

Both Vernitsky and Satinover often approach their subject matter with a sense of lightheartedness. This ease with which they come to their subject matter does not take away from the significance of the work, but rather adds a dimension to the story telling and gives the viewer a place to reflect on the history of the object as well as the new vision given to it by the artists. In the end, these two artists take discarded material and use it to bring us back to ourselves and reflect on our humanity and our connections to our surroundings and each other.

Join them in celebrating this journey at the opening reception Friday, July 12th from 5-7pm. For a more in-depth exploration of the artists’ processes, an artist talk will be held Saturday, July 27th from 1-3pm. Try your own hand at their process with an art making session August 10th from 1-3pm; finally, Re-Visions will end with a closing reception Saturday, September 7th from 1-3pm.