The Artist S Gaze

PA
www.poetsandartists.com
S I R ON A
FINE ART
THE ARTIST’S GAZE
Seeing Women in the 21st Century
Curated by Victoria Selbach
S I R ONA
FINE ART
February 21 to March 22, 2015
Opening Reception
February 21, 2015
600 Silks Run #1240

Hallandale Beach, FL 33009
954.454.9494
www.sironafineart.com
a letter from the curator As a painter of women, I am fascinated by the minds behind the chosen visual
dialogue of my contemporaries. Each artist gazes through a complex prism
of contemporary thought and imagery. Although we ride the same torrent
of zeitgeist each view is unique and shaded by thoughts, life experiences
and choices solely our own. What we choose to see and what we lay on
canvas tells as much about ourselves as the muse.
Today, as throughout history, the female image is employed for a vast

number of reasons by a broad cadre of artists. The female form can be
compellingly appropriated as a talisman, simply an object of beauty, a call
to desire, an icon of popular culture, a visage to portray a fetish in the artists
personal fantasy, a character in a larger narrative, a stand in weighted with
mythological symbolism and allegory, or a plaything for creative virtuosity.
My question is what happens when an artist chooses to let all that fall away
and simply and deeply seeks to observe, understand and honor the woman
present.
The Artists Gaze; Seeing Women in the Twenty-first Century focuses on

those who seek to capture the reality and complexity of the women they
Victoria Selbach choose to see. I am fascinated by what attracts and ignites each individual
voice. Can the work sometimes capture with honesty the authentic women
present, the layered psychology, the power of an intimate connection? Can
we see beyond the surface, to feel deeply and perhaps tap into the history
of shared experience, generational realities, or begin to sense the emotion
and light below the surface?
GOSS183 Publishing Group
Publisher/Creator What does this work capture about the artist we are and the women we
Didi Menendez choose to see? Seen together what is the image of women we propel
copyright © 2015 PoetsArtists forward? If the deep desire to ‘see’ sets each piece in motion perhaps
www.poetsandartists.com
seeing is the true journey, the essence of the art.
ARTISTS
Daliah Lina Ammar Alison Lambert
Erin Anderson Daniel Maidman
Jennifer Balkan Susannah Martin
Mia Bergeron Delita Martin
Cindy Bernhard Mary Beth McKenzie
Dorielle Caimi Alyssa Monks
Aleah Chapin Reuben Negron
Matthew Cherry Tim Okamura
Erica Elan Ciganek Judith Peck
Lauren Levato Coyne Nadine Robbins
Brian Booth Craig Cesar Santos
Michelle Doll Richard T. Scott
Hollis Dunlap Victoria Selbach
Stephen Early Ryan Shultz
Jeff Faerber Krista Smith
Patrick Earl Hammie Bernardo Torrens
Mark Horst Jaime Valero
Park Hyung Jin Nick Ward
Christian Johnson Melinda Whitmore
Marshall Jones Wesley Wofford
Maria Kreyn Stephen Wright
Will Kurtz Jason Yarmosky
CONTRIBUTORS
Steven Alan Bennett Deanna Elaine Piowaty
Janice Bond Tim Smith
George Henoch Shechtman Howard Tullman
Carter Jackson-Brown
Susannah Martin
Study for Amazon

acrylic on paper
30x41
PA#61 THE ARTIST’S GAZE FEBRUARY 2015

Fraulein
oil on canvas
39x59

Tim Okamura
I Love Your Hair

oil, collage on canvas
72x60 PA#61 THE ARTIST’S GAZE FEBRUARY 2015
I’m Felling Ur Vibe
oil, collage on canvas
PA#61 THE ARTIST’S GAZE FEBRUARY 2015 72x60
Tim Okamura
I see my sister’s triumphs;

my mother’s sadness;
my friend’s perseverance
beyond her shattered
dreams. I see the love of
their children in some of
these women’s eyes, and
the heartbreak that came
afterwards, when they
lost that someone special
for the very last time.
Carter Jackson-Brown
Seeds of Contemplation
(Shown by Rauschenberg)
oil, collage, mixed media on canvas
60x76
Jason Yarmosky
A Shadow's Kiss
oil on canvas
36x64

The Soft Look
oil on canvas
70x88

Stephen Wright
Jen 1 .Jen 2
oil on canvas oil on canvas
36x36 36x36
Standing before them, one is drawn in by the intent

gaze of a woman ... They seem always to be slightly
removed – yet they challenge, perplex, and attract us.
George Henoch Shechtman
Director of Gallery Henoch, Collector

Alison Lambert Amelia
monotype somerset texture white 300 gsm
plate 11.75x9.75

Alba
monotype somerset texture white 300 gsm
plate 11.75x9.75

Complicate Them
For quite sometime society has encouraged
the distillation and compartmentalizing
of our relationship to beauty, femininity,
and thus the woman. For an artist to seek
more purposeful dimension than their
own romanticized viewpoint or fantasy
regarding women was in some cases seen
as radical even.
It was once shared with me that as pretty is

ornate and subjective, beauty and life are
more of the soul. An increasing number of
creatives are sharing the multidimensional
tactile textile that is the woman through
a variety of mediums and narratives. The
“what” and “who” no longer suffice. Artists
are now capturing the essence of the
human element in their work in a way that
allows it to go beyond cosmetic beauty.
There is something in the air now, easily

one can attribute to the rise and full
integration of social media into our daily
lives. A dialogue about the texture of a
piece is not just in response to medium
or technique, but a multitude of internal
variables, variations, personalities, cultures,
and environments. Women through the
eyes now of contemporary artists, their
holographic depth of field is now ever
present.
Perhaps artists never disconnected.

Perhaps we never disconnected. What
happens when art and culture reconnects
with the root of itself? Beauty. A woman’s
scars to her sensuality whether direct or
implied become more visible, yet the
experience begs for more of a inquiry than
an assumption. More to understand, yes.
Also more to experience. Bloom.
Janice Bond
Cultural Curator, Arts Advocate
Case
oil on canvas
30x40
Patrick Earl Hammie
Reuben Negron
Untitled (Tracey #1)

water color on paper
mounted on wood panel
18x24

Brooke
watercolor on paper
40 x 26

Cesar Santos
The Dream
oil on linen
45x30

Park Hyung Jin
Ayoung
oil on canvas
45.7 x 35.8
Dorielle Caimi
Nothing I'm Fine

oil on canvas
46x30

The Weight
oil on canvas
36x24
Matthew Cherry
Jacy
oil on canvas
72x72
Jory
oil on canvas
72x72
Jadyn
oil on canvas These three portraits of my daughters, each separated by 7
72x72
years, represent three different generations and outlooks, a
child's, a teenager's and a young woman in her twenties.
Matthew Cherry
Lauren Levato Coyne
Legacy
colored pencil on Strathmore
44x30

I know I’ve found the right subject/image when it lands
on me like a house. When it’s right I’m so compelled to
draw nothing can keep me from it.
Lauren Levato Coyne
Heirloom
colored pencil on Strathmore
PA#61 THE ARTIST’S GAZE FEBRUARY 2015 44x30
Nick Ward
I Have Come To Realize That My

Wounds Are Self Inflicted
oil on panel
32x58

Erica Elan Ciganek
Wait
oil paint on MDF
24x48x5
I predominantly paint women because of the deep impact they

have in my life, as well as a desire to continue to learn to truly
see women in a culture that has skewed lenses and expectations
of doing so.
Erica Elan Ciganek

Krista Smith Band of Stars
oil on canvas
54x56
“I guess a collector starts to grow up

when he finally learns to appreciate
paintings he can't own.”
This has always been one of my favorite statements for a variety of reasons. First,
while I have certainly aged over the last 45 years of collecting, I’m not sure that I
have really grown up or matured because I still find such total – almost childlike -
delight in discovering an exciting new work by an unknown young artist and also in
seeing the growth and continued development of the artists I have been privileged
to work with over so many years. I still break into a sweat and the feeling is totally
visceral when I happen upon a work that just takes my breath away. If losing that
kind of connection or passion is a part of growing up, then I’m totally with Peter
Pan and I’m never going there. But, at the same time, as I reviewed the list of
participating artists in this project, and found myself bemoaning my stupidity in not
already owning examples of some of their works – Aleah Chapin and Susannah
Martin come especially to mind – I bit my tongue and reminded myself that the most
important consideration is not what’s on my walls, but what’s out there for the world
to appreciate and enjoy. And that’s a blessing for all of us – collectors – creators –
and civilians as well. So I will try to be a good sport and soldier on. The fact that
I do have wonderful pieces by so many of the artists in the show – many of whom
Didi Menendez brought to my attention – is only the smallest solace.
Howard Tullman
Collector and CEO of 1871

Will Kurtz
Laid Out
newspaper and mixed media
88x72x13

Ryan Shultz
Asa
oil on linen
32x48

Wesley Wolford
Engagement
Bonded Marble
Bonded Bronze Edition of 25
30hx27wx15
Marshall Jones
Remains
oil on canvas
54X72
Marshall Jones

Daliah Ammar

Remember To Forget
oil on canvas
30x40
Suffocation Passing Through

oil on canvas
30x42

Bernardo Torrens
Study for the Siesta (detail)

acrylic on wood
50 x 63
For me, one of the most gratifying evolutions
in the contemporary art scene has been the
gradual inclusion of portraits of women whose
bodies reflect not some sterilized version of
chaste femininity, but of a much more vibrant and
complex womanhood: lives colored by struggle
and conflict; bodies, faces, shadowed by loss,
and yet, as these artists show us, this is not the
whole of the story. The dance does not end there.
In Aleah Chapin's nude portraits of her friends and

"Aunties" cavorting with one another in celebration
of sisterhood, of having survived, of the ironies
and yet wonderment of life, works like Laugh,
Unbroken, And I Gathered Their Feathers, bear
witness to the height and breadth of what it means
to be authentically and deeply alive. Even, as we
see in her capture of the ravages of breast cancer,
in Shanti and Heather, life is not always gentle,
nor kind.
When Jason Bard Yarmosky sought to capture the

fullness of his grandmother's spirit, he chose not
to adorn her in "appropriate" clothing and seat
her passively, as certainly painters before him had
done, but instead to let her loose in an irreverent
bunny suit, pink wig, even gave her bubbles to
blow, cards to deal, and a cigarette. For this, he
knew and so wanted to express, was the air his
grandmother breathed.
Not that the most affecting portraits have been

all hopefulness and light. Among the strongest
works by Alyssa Monks is her portrait, Emptying,
in which the female subject looks at her viewer
straight-on, unflinching in what she knows,
conveys, even sees. In Monk's mascara-smeared
self-portrait, Loss, one feels the relief of looking in
the face of our own vulnerability.
What is new and deeply appreciated in the

portraits coming out now is a redefining of female
vulnerability ~ not as a reflection of having been
protected from life, but rather, the opposite:
vulnerability as a consequence of having met life
straight-on, having waded right down through
the deep and the muck of it, and having come
out changed, sometimes scarred, but also
magnificently humbled, and awed.
Deanna Elaine Piowaty

Editor-in-Chief Combustus Magazine
Mary Beth McKenzie
Ivy green wicker chair

oil on canvas
64x48

Self portrait studio wall
oil on canvas
50 x 48

Mary Beth McKenzie
Liz marble fireplace

oil on canvas
79x59
Women and their Vision:
Through a Different Set of Eyes
When I began acquiring paintings some years child. Anguissola intuits a mother's love and a
ago, something quickly became apparent to me. child's joyous trust AND interposes herself as the
Women realists see differently. Whether it is a interpreter of this relationship. In this circumstance,
mountain stream or people in conflict, the woman's the artist is more than a painter, she is both a
eye interprets with a view that is informed by translator and an intermediary.
emotion, intuition and linguistics. In this sense,
women artists' depictions go beyond what they On the linguistic front, women artists, in my
see. While men are visual, women are extra-visual experience and in my collection, demonstrate a
or, if you prefer, supra-visual. Nowhere is this more facility for narrative that is also different from that
apparent than when women depict themselves or of men painters. The male usually sees narrative
other women. as an event or a linear series of events. The
woman sees narrative more at the intersection of
From the beginning of my time as a collector, emotion and circumstance. A comparison of any
what I have come to know, both intuitively and of Käthe Kollwitz's Peasant War etchings with
as a result of my collecting experience, is that Picasso's Guernica makes the point. Picasso's
women artists see themselves, body and soul, terrified peasants run from the Condor Legion's
with a different eye than their male counterparts. bombs as terror rains from above. By contrast,
Where a man sees the woman subject largely Kollwitz's peasants wear strife in their breasts.
in visual and exogenous terms, the woman artist Their pain extends beyond the event. For Kollwitz,
sees herself and her sisters not just visually but in the depicted uprising is neither an event to be
emotional and linguistic terms. A male artist views reported nor a story to betold; it is incomparable
a woman subject and depicts her; a woman suffering inescapably crippling the souls of the
artist internalizes her subject, sometimes with participants while we, the viewers, watch. While
empathy, sometimes with loathing, but never with both works have emotional content, and both
indifference. For women artists, it is never solely depict factual occurrences, the woman's work is
visual nor, at least sometimes, even mainly visual. based on emotion while the man's is based on
Womanly interpretation transcends the eye. circumstance.
For anyone, man or woman, this difference in Talking about gender-based differences in the
content and approach should be obvious enough, way in which artists describe their worlds is
at least conceptually. But, truly, if one meets the always difficult. As we think about how artists
work on its own terms, the conclusion that women see, however, it is important to keep in mind that
see differently is irresistible. For an early example, gender based differences do indeed influence an
compare Sofonisba Anguissola's Self-portrait, artist's work. Yes, the sexes are equal, but they are
Painting the Madonna 1556 (a rare example of a not identical. Indeed, in some respects, they may
Renaissance woman painter's work, and an even not even be similar. Simply put, men and women
more rare Renaissance woman artist's self-portrait) realists see differently. But it is a difference to be
with the Madonna and Child of any male artist celebrated, not denied.
of the period. The men see a woman and her
Steven Alan Bennett

Collector

Cindy Bernhard
Couch
watercolor on paper and acetate
61.5 x 44
Ridge Road
watercolor on paper and acetate
57 x 44.5

Jaime Valero
Portrait Number 2
oil on board
48x33
Nadine Robbins
Davida
oil on canvas
68x40
Mark Horst
in this here place, we flesh 4

oil on canvas
24x36
Aleah Chapin
Auntie
oil on canvas
58x38
I sense something before I see it, and

then I go search for it.
Aleah Chapin

Christian Johnson
Untitled 2013.01.020) Untitled (2013.01.029)

ink, graphite, and charcoal on paper acrylic, graphite,and charcoal on paper
11.5x9 10x8

Untitled (2013.01.048) Untitled (2013.01.053)
graphite and charcoal on paper ink,graphite, and charcoal on paper
10x7.5 10x8

Jennifer Balkan
American Woman REDUX 2

oil on wood
32x24
Guilt in Green 2
oil on wood
36x30
Jennifer Balkan
Navigator 1
oil on wood with maps and gold leaf
32x24
There is nothing more personal to me than

to be one with someone through paint.
Jennifer Balkan

Erin Anderson
Spirited Away
oil on copper
16x12

Delita Martin
In Search of Black Sparrows

conte, relief, collage, hand-stitching
38.5 x 49.75

Through My Eyes
conte, relief,
hand-stitching
38.5 x 49.75
These women challenge us to reflect on a deeper meaning

behind the surface. They compel us to look into their faces and
respond to their tenacity for life.
Delita Martin
Jeff Faerber
Hazel with Gold Halo

mixed on acid-free board
12 x 9
Peering into the firmament of the weightless world, branches ablaze floating in the eternal sky
mixed media on acid free board
25x27.5

Hollis Dunlap
Dream Time
oil on linen
40x50

The way you were
oil on panel
24x30

Judith Peck
Daybreak
oil and plaster on board
20x16
On the Cusp
oil and plaster on board
20x16

Richard T. Scott
Autumn Mourning
oil on linen
16x20
Daniel Maidman
Rachel Grieving
oil on linen
40x30
Mia Bergeron
EvenSong
oil on panel
20x24
...all of my work is about being vulnerable, which in turn
means I’m constantly frightened by its intimacy.
Mia Bergeron

Brian Booth Craig
Diana
Bronze
40x10x10

Maria Kreyn
Falling
oil on canvas
24x30
Melinda Whitmore
Wallflower
aquaresin copper iron
Stephen Early
(Left page detail) The Body Never Lies

oil on linen
20x38
Braids
oil on linen
20x30
It has been the women in my life that have been the greatest source of
inspiration. Their love, strength, guidance and perseverance has given
me a wonderful example of the gift of humanity...I hope to reach
beyond my limited vocabulary to express my gratitude.
Stephen Early

Michelle Doll
Couple (TL1)
oil on canvas
24x24
...what I have come to know, both intuitively and as a result of my collecting

experience, is that women artists see themselves, body and soul, with a
different eye than their male counterparts. Where a man sees the woman
subject largely in visual terms, the woman artist sees herself and her sisters not
just visually but in emotional and linguistic terms. A male artist views a woman
subject and depicts her; a woman artist internalizes her subject, sometimes
with empathy, sometimes with loathing, but never with indifference.
Steven Alan Bennett

Collector
Couple (JTCR1)
oilon canvas
24x24
Alyssa Monks
Cassidy
oil on panel
11x16
Right page (detail)
Loss
oil on linen
48x72

Victoria Selbach
Durga
acrylic on canvas
54x34

Perhaps artists never disconnected. Perhaps we never disconnected.
What happens when art and culture reconnects with the root of itself?
... the experience begs for more of an inquiry than an assumption.
More to understand, yes. Also more to experience. Bloom.
Janice Bond
contributor notes
Daliah Lina Ammar is a nineteen-year-old Palestinian-American mind. Her current paintings explore the relationship between grace
artist based in Chicago, IL. Daliah’s interest in making paintings and angst that both plague and glorify the private worlds of young
stemmed from her fascination in the oil painted self. The purpose of women. Her work explores how these truths affect both public
Daliah’s work is to transcend the notion of the self and the physicality perception and self-identity of women in a modern world. Dorielle
of paint, resonating from vulnerable and personal experiences, as a Caimi was born in Alexandria, VA, USA in 1985, and currently lives
means of conveying life as it blooms or decays from within. Expressing and works in Oakand, CA. She completed a BFA (Summa Cum
that awareness of the self and reflecting to the viewer establishes Laude) in Painting from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA in
a relationship between themselves and herself – creating a human 2010 and a Master Class in Painting at the Art Students League of
connection resonating from unspoken, personal experiences. Daliah’s Denver, CO. in 2013. Caimi’s work has been featured internationally,
works are confrontational, yet, intimate and personal – using the and in the online publications of Hi-Fructose, Combustus, Juxtapoz
painted surface as a trope for the physical and psychological presence Magazine, and Printer’s Devil Review. She is currenty represented by
between the inner self and external viewer. www.daliahammar.com Gusford Gallery in Los Angeles. www.dorielle.com
Erin Anderson finds inspiration from complex dynamics and Aleah Chapin, born in 1986, grew up on an island in Washington
relationships within individuals and groups. Working on copper State, receiving her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in 2009 and
sheet, her compositions remain anchored in representational figure her MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2012, followed by
painting juxtaposed by abstraction. To explore the connective nature a Postgraduate Fellowship. Aleah has attended residencies including
of the human experience, she makes visual comparisons between the the MacDowell Colony and has been the recipient of several awards
figure and systems in nature. Her opinion is that, “studying the ways including the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant. In 2012, Aleah won first
in which nature is connected informs the ways I create atmosphere place in the BP Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery
within and around my subjects”. Her intention is to make inference into in London. She has exhibited her work in the US, the Netherlands,
the dynamic and flow of the subjects in her work by etching complex Germany and the UK. Aleah lives and paints in Brooklyn, NY, but the
designs into the copper substrate. The ensuing art is an exploration of people and place of her home in the Pacific Northwest are at the core
our relationships to one another and the mechanism through which we of her work. www.aleahchapin.com
are connected. www.erinandersonstudio.com
Matthew Cherry’s PROJECT 23 is an ongoing study researching
Jennifer Balkan drew as a child and though discovered her the faces of his five children over 23 years, one group for each year
grandmother’s oil paints way back when, she did not embrace he was married. Matthew started this project as a way to process loss
painting until her adult life. She studied behavioral neuroscience in and find answers through the faces of his children after his beautiful
college and attained her Ph.D. in sociology with a focus on Latin wife of 23 years and he both decided to come out to their family and
America. Though intellectually stimulated, she felt a creative void and separate despite having spent a beautiful life together. These three
longed for passion in her work. She then began to paint. Jennifer’s portraits of his daughters, each separated by 7 years, represent three
paintings are emotionally-based psychological narratives in which she different generations, a child’s, a teenager’s and a young woman in her
presents a close-up figure in a stark background — where the details twenties’ depicting a particular moment post the trauma and upheaval
lie in planes of color. She chooses to exaggerate color, in a sense they all experienced during a time of great transition as an attempt to
break up a color field into its constituent colors, directing the viewer document what uncertainty looks like. www.matthewivancherry.com
to particular areas by applying juicy bits of heavily saturated color.
Jennifer strives to capture emotional states more than anything else, Erica Elan Ciganek is a painter living and working in Chicago.
purposefully laying strokes down to create the illusion of an outer Erica graduated from North Park University (class of 2013) where
physical topography that houses an inner one of the soul. she majored in Art as well as Conflict Transformation. She primarily
www.jenniferbalkan.net works with oil paint, but explores with drawing, writing music, and
photography. Her work currently explores what it means to truly see
Mia Bergeron’s interest in art was cultivated early on, beginning people and the transformative power of doing so.
with continuous exposure to visual works through her parents’ graphic www.ericaelanciganek.com
design firm in New York City. In 1998, Mia studied at the Rhode
Island School of Design, but left RISD to pursue a more traditional Lauren Levato Coyne’s drawings are in turn symbolist portraits,
education at The Charles H. Cecil Studio in Florence, Italy. Since her fairy tales, and confessional still lives using lush realism with an
return from Florence, she has won numerous awards, and has served economy of line and negative space. She is the co-founder of
as adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. Sidetracked Studio in Evanston, IL. www.hioctaneredhead.com
She is also a member of the nationally- recognized group Women
Painting Women. Mia’s hope is to use her abilities not only share her Brian Booth Craig, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, studied Fine
views through painting, but also to help bring visibility to other female Arts at the Pennsylvania State University, then continued his studies at
painters. www.miabergeron.com the New York Academy of Art, where he received his Master of Fine
Arts degree. In addition to working as Audrey Flack’s assistant on
Cindy Bernhard earned her Master of Fine Arts in Painting at her large scale bronzes, Brian was the supervisor of sculptors on the
the Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna Beach, California. Leonardo da Vinci’s Horse project, located in Milan. He is currently
She has served as an instructor for numerous institutions including Chair of the Sculpture Department at the Lyme Academy College of
the Evanston Art Center, The American Academy of Art, and Laguna Fine Arts in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Brian exhibits his work throughout
College of Art and Design. She also has received numerous awards the United States and is currently represented by the Bernarducci
and accolades and has taken part in dozens of exhibitions in Meisel Gallery. www.bernarduccimeisel.com
throughout California, New York, and Chicago, and was one of
the featured artists in JNFA’s special exhibition “Chicago in Paris” at Michelle Doll’s paintings capture quiet, intimate moments hinged
France’s Galerie Boicos. www.cindybernhardart.com on personal connections between her subjects, as well as their
interactions with the world around them. Doll’s recent works are
Dorielle Caimi’s paintings seek to express an urgent state of imbued with femininity and introspection, and explore the themes of
love, desire and connection. She earned her BFA from Kent State University School of Fine Arts and a master’s course at its graduate
University and MFA from New York Academy of Art where she school. He studied academic painting, photography, and Oriental art
graduated Cum Laude on both. Her work has been exhibited and there. Unique images rather than extreme depictions are important to
featured worldwide at galleries from New York to St. Barth’s to San the artist. He wants figures in his works to provoke some atmosphere
Francisco to Basel and London. She is represented by Lyons Wier beyond the cool-headed objectivity of photorealism while maintaining
Gallery in New York, and currently lives and works in Hoboken, NJ the stance of realism. www.bernarduccimeisel.com
www.michelledoll.com
Christian Johnson is a Brooklyn-based draftsman, printmaker,
Hollis Dunlap, born in 1977 in northeastern Vermont, has been and photographer that focuses on the female nude. His subtle, sparse,
painting since he was about six years old. His first oil paintings and sensuous works are meditations on spirit and corporeality. www.
were landscapes painted on site when he was 15, at the same time christianjohnson.com
studying masters like Michelangelo and Leonardo to gain a familiarity
with the human figure. The paintings shown here are representative Marshall Jones, an accomplished figurative painter, was
of his current work, using more color intensity and experimenting with the recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant and the Phyllis
subtle surface designs and textures. Precise drawing and brushwork Mason Grant. In 2010 he was awarded the Fanatasy Fountain
is important and he strikes a balance between classical modeling of Fund Travel Scholarship which enabled him to study at the Paris
form and letting the viewer see the paint as just paint, while geometric American Academy. Marshall Jones has shown extensively in New
shapes form the structure of the painting. www.hollisdunlap.com York including The (UN)Fair 2013 and 2014, Mark Miller Gallery,
Denise Bibro Gallery, Panepinto Gallery and the Salmagundi Club.
Stephen Early is a classically trained figure and portrait painter Marshall’s current series explores the role of imagery in the collective
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Stephen was featured as one unconscious. His narrative paintings confronts what it means to exist
of the “12 Artists to Watch in 2012”, in the December/January in a culture soaked in imagery, myth and symbols and how those
issues of American Artist Magazine. He was also a featured artist elements shape humanity, crafting our desires, needs and biases.
in the Spring 2011 issue of American Painter Video Magazine. His marshalljonesart.com
work has earned numerous awards of Excellence from the Portrait
Society of America’s Portrait Competitions, ARC Salon as well as Originally form Gorky, Russia, Maria Kreyn’s education is varied.
the Salmagundi Club Annual Exhibitions, to name a few. Stephen She trained in classical drawing at The School of Representational Art
was commissioned to participate in the project entitled “Star Wars: in Chicago, and studied formally at the University of Chicago. She
Visions” by George Lucas. Early has exhibited his work nationally later apprenticed in Europe with Odd Nerdrum for three years, living
and his work is also included many private collections. Stephen has between Iceland, Norway, and France. After which, she studied
been a principal instructor of the core program at Studio Incamminati painting with Chris Pugliese in New York. Maria takes an angle of
in Philadelphia, since it’s inception in 2004. The artist has also her own to comment on the human condition. Her figurative images
established a workshop practice giving classes in figure and portrait aim to reactivate the spirit of the collective unconscious... in the hope
painting across the country and internationally. of conquering what Sontag calls the “relentless melt of time.” Maria
www.stephenearly.com now lives and works in New York City. www.mariakreyn.com
Jeff Faerber grew up in CA and studied art at San José State Will Kurtz was born in Flint, Michigan and received his Bachelor
University (San José, CA) and School of Visual Arts (NYC). His art has of Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University in 1981.
appeared in magazines, books, CDs, and websites. He has shown He practiced as a landscape architect for 25 years, throughout the
extensively in New York, as well as many other major cities in the U.S. United States and Canada. It wasn’t until he was in his mid thirties
and abroad. He paints for fun and for profit and likes it best when its that he began creating art as a self-taught artist. Eventually his passion
for both. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with a very classy lady for art superseded landscape architecture and he moved to New
and two cats. www.jefffaerber.com York at the age of 50 to attend graduate school at the New York
Academy of Art. After graduation with an MFA he was selected to
Patrick Earl Hammie’s work investigates and reshapes conventions remain and do a one-year fellowship. He has since had several solo
of figurative painting in order to examine critical aspects of gender and and group shows and has been represented by several galleries
race today. His recent work features female and male figures locked including Mike Weiss Gallery, New York, Queene Anne Galerie,
in a physical dialogue, which proposes fresh ways of visualizing both Leipzig, Germany, Converge Gallery, PN and Stricoff Gallery, NY.
bodies to remake what the nude does and how it produces meaning. His work is in many prominent collections around the world. He lives
Hammie holds a BA from Coker College and an MFA the University and works in Brooklyn, New York. www.willkurtz.com
of Connecticut, and is currently an assistant professor at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He’s exhibited throughout the U.S., Alison Lambert studied at Leek and Coventry Schools of Art,
and his art is on display in the collections of the Kohler Company and graduating with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. Her work has been exhibited
John Michael Kohler Art Center, and the Kinsey Institute at Indiana widely and she has established a reputation for being one of the
University. Hammie is represented by Yeelen Gallery in Miami. foremost British artists working with the human figure. In 2013/2014
www.patrickearlhammie.com one of Lambert’s drawings was included in a display at the Victoria
& Albert Museum, London along with the accompanying book by
Mark Horst grew up in Minnesota. He studied pottery and Susan Owers: The Art of Drawing: British Masters and Methods since
printmaking in high school and college, but his encounter with 1600. Three of Lambert’s monotypes were selected for exhibition at
Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker led to years of very different the third International Print Biennale. Alison’s work is in many private
work. After earning a Ph.D. in theology from Yale University, he spent and public collections in the UK, Europe, USA Canada and Australia
time teaching and working toward neighborhood renewal in south including the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Minneapolis. He pursued painting and drawing at the Minneapolis www.prattcontemporaryart.co.uk/alison-lambert.
College of Art and Design and the New York Studio School. He
lives in Albuquerque. His most recent work has been included in the Daniel Maidman is a painter whose imagery occupies a spectrum
Albuquerque Museum’s “Visualizing Albuquerque” exhibition. from high rendering to almost total abstraction. His art has been
www.markhorststudio.com shown in group and solo shows in Manhattan and nationwide. His art
and writing on art have been featured in PoetsArtists, The Huffington
Park Hyung Jin completed a bachelor’s course at the Hansung Post, ARTnews, Juxtapoz, Hyperallergic, American Art Collector,
International Artist, MAKE, and Manifest. His work is included in the Gallery in London, England as well as in galleries throughout the
permanent collection of the New Britain Museum of American Art, world, including the U.S., Canada, Italy, Japan, and Turkey. His
as well as numerous private collections, among them those of best- work is included in the permanent collection of the Toronto Congress
selling novelist China Miéville, New York Magazine senior art critic Center, Standard Chartered Bank in the UK, and the Davis Museum
Jerry Saltz, Chicago collector Howard Tullman, Disney Senior Vice in Massachusetts. www.timokamura.com
President Jackson George, and Gemini-winning screenwriter Jeremy
Boxen. He lives and paints in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We live in a broken world, full of distances and rifts between and
www.danielmaidman.com across cultures. Judith Peck believes life is about relating to
others and having empathy in spite of these breaks. Peck paints on
Susannah Martin was born in New York City in 1964. She board imbedded with broken plaster shards in an attempt to hold
studied at New York University with a scholarship for painting. this cracking world together. She has exhibited her work in venues
Following her studies she was self-employed as a muralist and painter nationwide and has received the Strauss Fellowship Grant from
of sets for film and photography in New York, Berlin Germany and Fairfax County, Virginia as well as a purchase grant from the District
finally Frankfurt am Main where she currently lives and works. In 2004 of Columbia’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
she returned to fine art and portraiture. Over the last 5 years her work www.judithpeck.net
has focused exclusively on contemporising the classical subject of
the nude in landscape. Avoiding a falsely idyllic scenario, her work Nadine Robbins’ work builds upon visual intuition and explores the
focuses on man’s estrangement from nature. The figures may appear concept of “personality”. She merges photography and painting into
absurd stripped of all social indicators and possessions or ecstatic strong, uncluttered compositions drawing the viewer in by capturing
in unexpected reunification with their natural selves. Martins’ work an unspoken confidence, emotion or unique beauty. Nadine’s portraits
creates a stage in which man’s struggle between the two poles of his garner attention from critics and collectors. John Seed from the
identity, the natural and the synthetic, may be contemplated. Huffington Post, chose Nadine’s portrait “Mrs. McDonald” as one of
www.susannahmartin.de his “Ten Memorable Paintings for 2013.” and her portrait “Moxie” is
part of the impressive array of nudes in The Tullman Collection. Her
Mary Beth McKenzie, a figurative artist, who lives and works portraits “The Rolling Buns” and “Acacia and the Bowman” have
in New York City was elected to the National Academy in 1994. traveled to London to be included in the Royal Society of Portrait
In 2001 she was one of only two women, in “Looking at You”, a Painters. Nadine’s double portrait “The Golden Gown,” has been
self portrait exhibition, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work hailed by critic Keith Shaw as an “American masterpiece.”
Untitled Diner, the monotype, plate, and drawing were on view www.nadinerobbinsart.com
in the Johnson Gallery of Prints and Drawings at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Selections from the Permanent Collection, in 2009. Cesar Santos (b.1982), Cuban-American. His art education is
McKenzie, as an invited artist, showed at the Butler Museum of worldly, and his work has been seen around the globe, from the
American Art, “Inspiring Figures” exhibition celebrating American Annigoni Museum in Italy and the Beijing museum in China to Chelsea
Women in Figurative Art. Recently, her monotype, Trapeze Artist, NY. Santos studied at Miami Dade College, where he earned his
was in the Johnson Gallery for Prints and Drawings in the Metropolitan associate in arts degree in 2003. He then attended the New World
Museum of Art. www.marybethmckenzie.com School of the Arts before traveling to Florence, Italy. In 2006, he
completed the Angel Academy of Art in Florence,Italy, studying under
Alyssa Monks studied at The New School in New York, Montclair Michael John Angel. Santos’ work reflects both classical and modern
State University and Boston College. She went on to earn her M.F.A interpretations juxtaposed within one painting. With superb technique,
from the New York Academy of Art. She completed an artist in he infuses a harmony between the natural and the conceptual to create
residency at Fullerton College in 2006 and has lectured at universities works that are provocative and dramatic. www.santocesar.com
and institutions nationwide. Alyssa’s intent is to transcend both the
subject and the paint itself. She aims to discover something that Richard T. Scott, living in Connecticut, is a painter, writer, and
resonates as deeply as her often-vulnerable inner experience. Alyssa designs coins for the United States Mint. His work is in private and
has been awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant for public collections, notably the New Britain Museum of American Art,
Painting three times and is a member of the New York Academy of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sicily, and former British Arts
Art’s Board of Trustees. www.alyssamonks.com Minister Alan Howarth. Scott’s paintings have exhibited across Europe
and North America, notably The National Arts Club, Le Grand Palais
Reuben Negron is a contemporary American painter best known in Paris, Palazzo Cini in Venice, and in Spring 2015: the European
for his highly detailed, intimate watercolors. His work explores themes Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona (MEAM). He has worked for Jeff
of psychology and social politics, most recently examining gender, Koons, and as studio assistant to Odd Nerdrum. He was selected as
identity, and sexuality through visual narrative. Negron holds a BFA one of “25 Artists of Tomorrow” by American Artist Magazine. Scott
from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, and a MFA from is a contributing author to The Nerdrum School, published by Arvinius
the School of Visual Arts, New York. Negron exhibits nationally and + Orfeus May, 2014 and to American Arts Quarterly.
internationally, most notably with shows in New York, London, Miami, www.richardtscottart.com
France and El Salvador. His work has been featured in Manifesto
Magazine, Rooms Magazine, Devora Ran, Playboy Magazine, Victoria Selbach is compelled by a strong connection to women.
Spectrum, and Communication Arts. Reuben Negron currently lives Loyalty, admiration and empathy draw her to the radiance of their
and works in Asheville, North Carolina. beauty. Selbach’s gaze is directed through this connection. Each
www.reubennegron.com individual muse brings her complex identity into the moment, and
carries that unique strength and presence into the painting. In 2014
Tim Okamura investigates identity, the urban environment, Selbach’s work was covered in Huffington Post by Priscilla Frank,
metaphor, and cultural iconography through a unique method of ‘Finally, Artist Paints Female Nudes As They Really Are’. Selbach has
painting - one that combines an essentially ‘realist’ approach to the exhibited in museums and collections across the country including the
figure with collage, spray paint and mixed media. The juxtaposition Heckscher Museum of Art, The Butler Institute of American Art and the
of the rawness and urgency of street art and academic ideals has Tullman Art Collection. www.victoriaselbach.com
created a visual language that acknowledges a traditional form of
story-telling through portraiture, while infusing the work with resonant Ryan Shultz received his bachelor’s degree from The American
contemporary motifs. Okamura has exhibited in the National Portrait Academy of Art in 2005, and his M.F.A. from Northwestern University
in 2009. Shultz’s work deals primarily with youth culture and the “cult originally from a rural town in Georgia and attended Valdosta State
of excess,” depicting scenes of intoxication and drug use, alienation University on a competitive art scholarship. But after several years of
and ecstasy. These works embrace the art historical canon, borrowing study he decided to instead head for Hollywood to pursue work in
compositional devices, technical processes, poses and gestures from the film industry as a Sculptor. For ten years he focused on creating
classical painting. Shultz is equally influenced by popular culture, photo-realistic, Duane Hanson like people and animals for the film
film and the fashion world, referencing this imagery in the subject industry. Wesley eventually became dissatisfied with film and moved
matter and scenarios that he creates. In this sense, his work could to the mountains with his family to pursue Fine Art Sculpture full time.
be called a marriage of the present and the past, a re-utilization of He spends his time completing both public and private commissions
past techniques, to make works that explore romanticized views of as well as pursuing his own compositions.
contemporary youth culture. www.ryanshultz.com www.woffordsculpturestudio.com
Krista Smith is a Canadian born painter based out of Brooklyn Born in 1962 in Los Angeles, CA, Stephen Wright received his
New York. Though her paintings focus on the representational, taking BFA in Graphic Design in 1987 from Cal State, Long Beach, CA.
form in large-scale body portraits, her emphasis on light calls attention Stephen began showing with Gallery Henoch in 2002, pushing
to the relationship between subject and viewer, where light acts as the boundaries of his work to new levels and completing three solo
the main participant in the work. The cold starring quality in her shows. His work has been shown internationally in the UK and
recent paintings aim to challenge voyeurism and how ones body is Turkey. Stephen’s work has been placed in numerous public and
seen or experienced. Twice a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields private collection, including the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton,
Foundation for the Arts Grant, Krista has shown internationally NJ, and the Tullman Collection, Chicago, IL. Stephen currently lives
throughout Europe and North America and continues to work out of and works in Los Angeles, CA. www.galleryhenoch.com
her Bushwick studio in New York. www.kristalouisesmith.com
Jason Yarmosky, born in 1987 in Poughkeepsie, New York,
Bernardo Torrens was born in Madrid in 1957. In spite of the began drawing as a child. He graduated with a BFA from the School
fact that he is virtually self-taught, he is a master painter, and can of Visual Arts in New York City in 2010. WIth his focus on painting
be securely positioned in the tradition of Spanish realism from the his grandparents, Yarmosky devotes his efforts to exploring the
seventeenth century to the present. He is also a master of his medium, concept of the life cycle. Yarmosky pushes the conceptual boundaries
the airbrush, achieving nuances of color and surface texture that are of figurative portrait painting by exploring the juxtaposition between
remarkable, even for this much-touted tool of the twentieth-century the young and old. While painting his 86-year-old grandparents
“superrealists.” In Torrens”s work one recognizes both the heightened with impeccable detail, Yarmosky exposes the tension between
reality and gravitas that are hallmarks of Spanish realism. the physical and psychological elements of the elderly, creating
www.bernarduccimeisel.com myriad expressions that clash with society’s cultural stereotypes of
aging. www.jasonyarmosky.com
Jaime Valero received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from
Complutense University in Madrid. He taught art for six years before
starting his professional career as an artist. Over eighteen years he
has built his style and imagery primary focused on portraiture and the
figure. Valero lived in the US for two years investigating the possibilities
of large-scale portraits and nudes in water and, ever since, he has
dedicated most of his work to exploring this most personal and
particular obsession. For the past three years he has developed an
enriching relation with Rarity Gallery in Mikonos where he will be
having his first solo show next Spring. www.jaimevalero.net
Nick Ward’s portraits attempt to capture the essence of being

human. The paintings reveal exaggerated characteristics mixed with
sparse use of text or vivid color as a counter point to the familiar
forms of the human face and body. His work is all about people
– how they interrelate, how they portray themselves, and how they
make him feel. Memories, real or imagined, of meetings and fleeting
glances. Each work is a study of texture and form punctuated by the
suggestion of the every day routines and slight neurosis unique to
each individual. www.nickwardonline.com
Melinda Whitmore depicts the fullness of ordinary human life

with honesty and candor, exposing the fragile nature of human
emotion juxtaposed with strength of character. This vulnerability
and psychology of the figure are the driving force in her work. She
seeks to achieve results that are very silent and very grand, with
expressive elements that are compelling, inspiring, and sometimes
disturbing. Melinda is co-director and principal instructor of anatomy,
sculpture and painting at Vitruvian Fine Art Studio, as well instructor
at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Feinberg School
of Medicine at Northwestern University. Her work can be found in
numbers collections in Chicago, Canada, New York, Europe, and
currently in the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
www.melindawhitmore.com.
Academy Award winning Sculptor Wesley Wofford works from

his private studio in the National Forest of North Carolina. Wesley is
As director of a newly created gallery, Sirona Fine Art, I was at- in general can be injected in innumerable ways into these classic
tracted to the “Artists Gaze” show from the sheer level of talent that approaches, it is only a lack of imagination and a lack of faith in
Victoria proposed. It was an ambitious proposal that she sent me succeeding generations of artists that allows pronouncements like
last spring, and I had to consider the prospects of getting a proper “painting is dead, realism is dead”...things I heard growing up in
audience to this new venue in Florida. I had spent two decades late 20th century America.
in the New York gallery world, which I knew very well, and was
starting up in a new state from scratch with no connections or con- My own feelings about art is that it succeed in some way on it’s
tacts. The proposed talents of the “Artists Gaze” deserved a large own terms. I am not concerned primarily with subject matter, gender,
and appreciative reception. Finally I decided that we would do the religion or politics. I think art can be simply beautiful, or it can be
show, because there would be no better way to introduce a new deeply communicative and symbolic, it can make grand statements
gallery than with a small army of world-class artists and a universally or make the simplest and most subtle of observational recordings.
relevant and important theme. As anyone who does accurately rendered works of art know, the
deeply meditative state that you must go into to record the world
I am very sensitive to the generosity of artists who lend or show around you is an act of dedication and love to whatever is in front
the works to an unknown and new gallery. So to make things simple of you, and what can be more profound than that? All approaches
for the artists I threw out a proposal: I would fly to New York, rent seem valid to me, as long as it connects in some way to some one.
a truck, drive to their studios and personally up any work they had
ready by November, then I would hand deliver the work back to As for the subject matter of women, and how they are viewed,
them later in 2015. I somehow managed to drive 2,000 miles just that is a bit more personal. As a child, I was mostly alone with my
in the Tri-State area before heading back on the road to Florida, mother and two sisters, and as a married adult, I have two daugh-
spending 7 days in the splendor of a Budget rental truck. Why? ters. How the world sees and views women, and how women view
Because I wanted to make it easy for these artists to be a part of this themselves as individuals and as part of the larger society has been
special show, I wanted to safeguard the work myself door to door. a very personal concern. Although it is a bit naive, I feel that the
I wanted to make “The Artist’s Gaze” happen to bring this level of entire history of mankind would have been enlightened and elevated
talent and commitment of representational art into this new arena in to a state of grace if we just remembered that we are all sons and
South Florida. It also allowed me to meet these artists face to face, daughters, given life by mothers in a universal and eternal act of
all these fantastic talents who I ironically had never met until after I creation regardless politics, race, religion. This simple connective
had moved from New York to here, over 1,000 miles south. aspect of what it is to be human and be alive is lost so often, century
after century, lifetime after lifetime.
Artists who produce original, thoughtful and skillful material are
the bearers of a creative act that has lasted through the history of I am very proud to host this exhibition, to have this visual discus-
humanity, and these artworks hold a special place in this digital, sion of such an important topic, to showcase the intelligent cura-
virtual world. Over and over I hear the public commenting that the tion of my colleague Victoria Selbach and the chance to present so
representational works we show must be digitally enhanced, that many talented artists in one exhibition. A major note of appreciation
there must be photoshop manipulations at hand. The human ele- to Didi Menendez, for putting together PoetsArtists Magazine, a rich
ment of creativity is less and less understood in our new world, as and rewarding aesthetic achievement that gives a home to beautiful
the power of imagery in and of itself has been diluted by its infinite images and thoughtful words.
accessibility. I feel however that the power of representational art is
strengthened more than ever by the fact that with all the new ways
to manipulate visual information, nothing can surpass the art stem-
ming from the skill and dedication required of traditional mediums Timothy Smith
and techniques. Modern concepts, modern voices and modernity Gallery Director
Sirona Fine Art

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PA

600 Silks Run #1240

Today, as throughout history, the female image is employed for a vast

The Artists Gaze; Seeing Women in the Twenty-first Century focuses on

Study for Amazon

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I Love Your Hair

I see my sister’s triumphs;

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Standing before them, one is drawn in by the intent

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It was once shared with me that as pretty is

There is something in the air now, easily

Perhaps artists never disconnected.

Untitled (Tracey #1)

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Nothing I'm Fine

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I Have Come To Realize That My

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I predominantly paint women because of the deep impact they

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“I guess a collector starts to grow up

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Suffocation Passing Through

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Study for the Siesta (detail)

In Aleah Chapin's nude portraits of her friends and

When Jason Bard Yarmosky sought to capture the

Not that the most affecting portraits have been

What is new and deeply appreciated in the

Deanna Elaine Piowaty

Ivy green wicker chair

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Liz marble fireplace

Steven Alan Bennett

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in this here place, we flesh 4

I sense something before I see it, and

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Untitled 2013.01.020) Untitled (2013.01.029)

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American Woman REDUX 2

There is nothing more personal to me than

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