Arteco Gallery's "Dimensions" opening, Saturday, October 25 (back)
This Saturday, as part of Cumberland's ArtsWalk, the Arteco Gallery will host an opening reception for its newest exhibition "Dimensions: Collage and Assemblage" by Washington D.C. artist, Katie Dell Kaufman. The show will continue at the Arteco Gallery through November 28.
A unique talent, Ms. Kaufman has shown widely, particularly in the Washington D.C. area. In addition to being a studio artist, she has also taught at the Corcoran School of Art for fifteen years. Fascinated by the mythical hero and his dragons; the sleeping princess; the odes of Homer and the battle of Saint Joan, Kaufman uses the techniques of collage and assemblage to connect her personal experience with the vast tradition of art and history, poetry and music. With charcoal on paper, paint on wood, bits of metal and fishnet fencing, the human face, the butterfly and the climbing vine, she explores the many dimensions of living-both as an artist and a woman-in a chaotic world.
The challenge of creating a successful assemblage, Kaufman says, is to engage in a dialogue with the materials she chooses, rather than to try and force them to submit to her will.
In Dimensions the result of these dialogues is stunning. Whether her depiction of the human face - pensive, quizzical, bemused, haunted - a spiral staircase, wings in flight, burnt candles, a silhouette's hard edges softened by flowers - her work is both wary and full of hope; beautiful and intriguing. Art is hard work. It is also exhilarating. Dimensions pays tribute to both.
The Arteco Gallery is very fortunate to have Katie Dell Kaufman exhibit her work for the first time in Western Maryland. All art lovers are invited to come see her work, and meet the artist, this Saturday from 5 to 8 at the Arteco Gallery is located at 60 Pershing Street in Downtown Cumberland. For more information visit www.artecogallery.com or call 301-777-8888.