Figuratively Speaking 3

The artists in the "Figuratively Speaking III" exhibition create painting inspired by photography, in some cases using a photo-image as a basis for their work. In this sense the artist becomes a medium for capturing a point in time, motivated by the same principles as a photographer. However, the artist imbues the image with new life, by using various tools of expression such as paints and pastels.

Artist Philippe Nuell understands his paintings as "notes in a journal that document the daily life, the fugacity of thoughts, the banality and repetition of certain facts." Nuell's images are so natural that the viewer can comfortably slip into the scene, surrounded by trivial yet beautiful aspects of daily life.

In Ryan Russo's paintings the "easy-life" promised by 1950's and 60's advertising finds itself lost in a blighted terrain, where such optimism seems hopeless. Relics of technology and architecture and drifting symbols of modernism are vacuous reminders of humanity's unfulfilled ambition for progress.

Heidi McFall's mastery of pastels is applied not so much to the realistic representation of physiognomy as to imitation of the effects of overexposure or excessive contrast in photography.

In Sidi El Karchi's latest paintings, also based on photographs, the portrait takes center stage. The artist captures friends or family members on film in an unguarded moment reflecting their hidden personalities.

Sherry Wong transforms her circle of friends into a constellation of archetypes whose passions and personas can be searing or pitch perfect. Working with traditional wood panels and a new palette of acrylic layers, Wong turns the series of paintings into spirit-seeking icons.