On my way in to the studio last night, I saw a card of mine that caught my eye. It had a detail of a small painting I had done a couple of years ago on it, where I used cheese cloth as the basis of one of the layers. It gave me an idea…. I took some cheesecloth I had laying around in the studio and I projected it 8-feet high on my studio wall:

I was excited about the potential of using this as an idea, or at least as part of the process, so I decided to make a large marker sketch (this is about 4 x 5 feet) to get a feel for the pattern it made, and how I might manipulate the negative and positive shapes. Too literal here, but the idea is taking hold….

Scaffolding is in order! However, it needs to be small and light enough for me to haul up the three flights to my space, be easy to set-up and take down, and not take a huge amount of storage when not in use. So off to Home Depot I go… where I picked up this lightweight system and set it up in my space to see if it would do the job.

Okay, so it’s a little small, and an artist on my floor who does large mosaic public installations (I’m talking several stories high), thinks I’ll be unhappy to work on something this small, but to be honest, I think it’s going to work out perfectly for me. It beats working on a ladder for the next four to six months, and it folds down to almost nothing when I don’t need it. Besides, I can always “upgrade” if I really need to.

Time will tell.

I’ve never made a painting this large (my largest to date is 4.5 x 9 feet – on paper), and working nearly twice as big will be a challenge on many levels. What is my materials strategy, how will my process scale up in size, and how long will it really take? What will it be like to create a painting for a client and a specific space as opposed to just painting whatever I want? What don’t I know? How will this expand my working process and move my art forward?

I’m hoping that I answer these questions in the next several months as I do my best to semi-forally document the progress of this particular painting. An artist journal of sorts to keep a detailed record of each step and to make my process transparent to anyone who may be interested in watching as it unfolds.

So it all began by first visiting the site of where the painting will be installed, just to get a feel for the location and space. This is the “before” picture and the wall that my painting will go on.

And here is the architect’s early rendering of what the renovated space will look like (sans my painting) when it is due to officially open in the Fall of 2015:

What brings together the works by Masako Kamiya, Nathan Miner and Lynda Schlosberg is the way each of the artists engages with ways of seeing. Of course initially this ‘seeing’ pertains to the visual recognition of the art object: the paint on the surface, the formal qualities such as composition, scale, materiality, design, pattern, and of course their vibrant use of color. Additionally, each artist in Field Visions is concerned with the act of looking itself, a thoughtful looking. They are part of a growing number of artists and thinkers who emphasize slowing down and suggest a contemplative response to the fast paced culture of our times.

Masako Kamiya is known for her dotted gouache paintings on watercolor paper where she places one small dab of paint on top of another thousands of times to complete each piece. Her pieces often take months to complete and require tremendous concentration and patience. For Gordon College she has created a unique large-scale piece directly onto the gallery wall. From afar they are subtle, yet inviting, and draw the viewer in. Once up close, they reward the viewer with a different world, a microscopic universe of stalactites, miniature rock formations reminiscent of the painted desert or what seems like the topography of a vast open landscape either on earth or somewhere else. In her artist statement, Kamiya explains the following: “My process requires me to work intimately on the surface, and yet I also move away from the surface in order to see how the layers of mark-making negate earlier marks and reveal a new form. In this way, I slowly arrive at my own truth, which is visual satisfaction.” Her field of vision is both two dimensional and three-dimensional and challenges a conventional differentiation between the two realms.

Miner’s paintings encourage your eyes to journey around, not simply traverse the surface of the work, but also to delve into the various perspectival fields contained within each piece. Underneath the surface, Miner has created a grid-like skeleton that hovers between two-and three-dimensionality. The artist skillfully extends the pictorial space of the painting beyond the confines of a ‘canvas,’ beyond the gallery wall and out into the space of the viewer in an effort to capture the feeling of being surrounded. He delivers a meticulously painted surface that contains the history of the many layers of visual decision making contained underneath. This intense layering is reminiscent of the many layers of rock, sand, and sediment that form the geological layers of the earth’s surface. Miner’s process further supports the idea of shifting to a “different pace and state of consciousness for the artist and hopefully also the viewer.” Miner’s practice is an investigation of time, sensory properties, and our optical relation with the world and is concerned with phenomenological experience. He calls it the “physicality of seeing.” According to Miner, the paintings invite you to “practice surrender,” to enter a moment of letting go.

Lynda Schlosberg presents complex and colorful worlds of an ambiguous nature. The paintings bring to mind galaxy formations in deep space and the view of matter at a nanoscopic level. Their infinite potentiality is part of the works’ strength. The paintings are created using a rule-based system that generates interwoven patterns and layers of information that both obscure and reveal connections between the detailed marks. Schlosberg, in her artist statement, elegantly describes her process as one where, “Energy vibrates into form, and form breaks down into indiscernible particles of energy. The sum of all parts creates an ineffable whole.” Her interests lie with quantum physics, zero point energy (the ground state of all matter as always being in motion) and the underlying energy field that connects all things. This interactive field is a phenomenon described by American journalist Lynne McTaggart, in her book The Field, as a vast sea of energy that connects all matter in the universe. Schlosberg’s paintings visualize those underlying interconnections and remind us that we are not separate beings, but rather are part of an intimately connected whole.

Each painting in Field Visions functions as a locus, a tipping point where perception changes from the micro to the macro or from the two-dimensional picture plane to the three-dimensional space each object activates. Kamiya’s paintings shift from an abstractly painted image to a field of miniature sculptures that forms an imaginary landscape. Miner’s paintings physically surround the viewer to engage their peripheral vision. He asks the viewer to consider their physical place in relation to both the work and the larger world. Schlosberg’s pieces oscillate between the macroscopic and the nanoscopic, and often appear to present both simultaneously. Together, these three artists investigate perception and invite contemplation not simply on their work, but also on our place in the universe. It is my hope that as a result of the temporary poetic shifts created by these paintings, viewers leave feeling connected to a slower, reflective state of mind.

—Leonie Bradbury, Curator

Lynda Schlosberg, “Into the Vortex,” Acrylic on paper, 55 x 55 inches, 2014.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kingston Gallery
450 Harrison Ave. #43
Boston, MA 02118
617.423.4113
www.kingstongallery.com
Contact: Deborah Davidson
publicrelations@kingstongallery.com
617.666.3674

Lynda Schlosberg: Zero Point Field
Main Gallery

July 2 – 27, 2014
Reception: Friday July 11, 2014,
5:30–8:00 pm.
Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Sunday 12–5 pm
and by appointment: 617.666.3674

Public Relations Hours: Tuesday, July 15 from 2:00–4:00 p.m.

BOSTON, MA — June 2014, Kingston Gallery is pleased to present Zero Point Field, new paintings by Lynda Schlosberg. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. Schlosberg’s new works present themselves as self-generating macrocosms that embrace the simultaneous presence and absence of all possibilities. A reception for the public will be held in the gallery on Friday, July 11 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.

In these paintings Schlosberg meditates on the philosophy that nothing ever dies and that everything is connected through a never-ending unified field of energy. Our perception of reality emerges from this field and it is through our focused attention that we bring things into form. Since we get to freely choose what we want to see, there is infinite potential to create any reality we desire. One only needs to look.

In a quantum world the Zero Point Field is an omnipresent energetic substructure. It is the lowest possible energy state where all matter has been removed and no particle movement should remain. Yet no particle ever comes completely to rest, every particle is forever in motion due to an endless ground-state field of energy that continually interacts with all subatomic matter. What this means is that the Zero Point Field becomes a mirror image and record of everything that is and ever was. In a sense, it is the beginning and the end of everything in the universe, a basis of oneness.

Schlosberg’s process-oriented paintings are built one layer at a time, one color at a time. Organic backgrounds of pooled color are superimposed with solid, amorphous forms that are covered with thousands of small dots, dashes and circles. Her choice of colors and geometric patterns conform to self-determined rules that are driven by, and are in response to, the preceding layers. It is through the mass accumulation and combination of individual marks, and the process of weaving the layers together, that larger patterns emerge and dissipate. Each work is a sea of oscillating particles, a formless state of swirling energy, out of which its own unique sense of potential becomes manifest.

Schlosberg received her MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and her BFA from Ohio University College of Art. Her work has been published in Boston Home,  Studio Visit and ArtBeat magazines and has been reviewed in the local press including The Boston Globe and Artscope. She received the 2013 Frances N. Roddy Award from the Concord Art Association, juried by Nick Capasso, Director of the Fitchburg Art Museum. Schlosberg’s paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout New England, including her recent solo exhibition “Field of Potentiality” at the Spencer Gallery at Endicott College. Schlosberg is represented by Susan Maasch Fine Art in Portland, ME, Kingston Gallery in Boston, and 13FOREST in Arlington, MA. She maintains a studio in Waltham, MA. Her website is www.lyndaschlosberg.com.

Showing in the Center Gallery: Peggy McClure: A Sense of Place
Showing in the Members’ Gallery: Ilona Anderson: Home Land

Kingston Gallery is an artist-run alternative space founded in 1982. The gallery is committed to showing work by emerging and established artists, hosting one-person and group exhibitions by gallery members as well as offering opportunities for non-members via its Center Gallery. The gallery is located in Boston’s historic South End between Harrison Avenue and Albany Street in the vibrant SoWA gallery district.

Lynda Schlosberg: Field of Potentiality
Tuesday, January 28 – Thursday, March 20, 2014
Reception:  Thursday, February 20, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Spencer Presentation Gallery

Gallery Hours:  Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Starting in February: Monday – Thursday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday: 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Endicott College
Walter J. Manninen Center for the Arts
376 Hale Street
Beverly, Massachusetts  01915

BEVERLY, MA:  Walter J. Manninen Center for the Arts at Endicott College presents the solo exhibition of Lynda Scholsberg, Field of Potentiality, located in the Spencer Presentation Gallery from Tuesday, January 28 through Thursday March 20, 2014.  The reception for this exhibition will be held on Thursday, February 20 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

Lynda Schlosberg is an emerging artist who creates intricate and complex paintings that are inspired by quantum theories and philosophies. She references imagery from science fiction cinema, satellite, and nature photography. In the construction of her work she utilizes a process of fragmentation and the language of abstract painting. Schlosberg aims to depict an imaginal realm where all natural and unnatural forces collapse into a vibrating energy that can materialize into one of an infinite number of potential realties. Lynda’s background of thirty years as a graphic designer and fine art photographer complements her painting work methods. She has lectured on Color in Digital Technology, and her work has been published in ArtBeat and Studio Visit magazines.

Lynda Schlosberg was born in Newton, Massachusetts. She received her BFA from Ohio University College of Art in Athens, Ohio, and her MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University in Boston, Massachusetts. Schlosberg is represented by Susan Maasch Fine Art in Portland, Maine, and Kingston Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts. She currently has a studio in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Schlosberg states, “The relationship between form and formlessness and the flattening of an energetic field are the basis of my paintings. My interest in navigating a space between the physical and non-physical has led me to speculate about an invisible field of consciousness and energy that permeates and connects all things. This perceptual field is a complex system of interdependent interactions whose outcome can change with the introduction of a single thought.”

When speaking about her process, “My paintings are constructed using a rule-based system to generate a series of interwoven layers of meticulous repeating patterns of dots, dashes, and grids in highly saturated, vibrant and illusory colors. The flat, unstructured formations of these layers wander over malleable and sometimes ethereal backgrounds; individual marks assert themselves and are instantaneously absorbed back into the canvas in a never-ending cycle. Energy vibrates into form, and form breaks down into indiscernible particles of energy. The sum of all parts creates an ineffable whole.”

The fourteen works of art in this solo exhibition at Endicott create an atmosphere of bright colors and creative imagery.  Each piece speaks to the others’ form and energy and makes a separate connection to the viewer.  The many layers of color and pattern are sure to elicit different responses and experiences for each gallery visitor.

For more information on Lynda Schlosberg: Field of Potentiality exhibit, reception, and gallery hours please contact Kathleen J. Moore, 978-232-2655 or email kmoore@endicott.edu. Our website is: www.endicott.edu/centerforthearts

Located in Beverly, Massachusetts on 235 acres of oceanfront property, Endicott College offers Doctor, Master and Bachelor degree programs in the professional and liberal arts.  Founded in 1939, Endicott provides an education built upon a combination of theory and practice, which is tested through internships and work experience.  Studying at the Beverly campus, regionally, and internationally are approximately 2,400 undergraduate and more than 2,650 adult and graduate students.

SMFA is celebrating the opening of their new gallery space at 4 City Center in Portland with an exhibition of all the gallery’s artists. Please join me at the opening on August 8th! If you can’t make it, please be sure to stop into the gallery and see all the great work!

The Details

Susan Maasch Fine Art
4 City Center
Portland, ME 04101

www.susanmaaschfineart.com
For more information call  207-478-4087.

Google Maps directions

Show runs through August and beyond…
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 8, 2013, 5:30-8pm
Gallery Hours: Tue-Sat 11am-5pm, and by chance or appointment 

Juror Kathryn Markel, of Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, NYC,  has selected 45 pieces by 35 artists that express “individual artistic language, masterful technique and clarity of intention-a distinct way of looking at the world.”

See more images of work from the show HERE.

Juror Kathryn Markel’s Statement: I have tried to choose artists that have a unique, consistent style that expresses a distinct way of looking at the world, and a kind of clarity of intention. I have looked for individual artistic language, and masterful technique which in the service of this clear, specific vision. I’m not concerned with media, but, having seen so much art in my life, I tried to choose artists that are making art that I haven’t seen before, and that are introducing me to new ways of looking at the world. – Kathryn Markel

About the Juror: Kathryn Markel, owner of Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in New York City, has helped clients find serious contemporary art that is beautiful as well as visually and intellectually engaging since 1976. Kathryn Markel Fine Arts exhibits a diverse group of artists united by a mastery of craft, a compelling intellectual framework, and a love of the painting/art making process.

The Details

Fountain Street Fine Art
59 Fountain Street
Framingham, MA 01712

www.fountainstreetfineart.com
For more information call  508-879-4200.

Google Maps directions

Show runs June 27-August 3, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 29, 2013, 5-7pm
Gallery Hours: Thu-Sun 11am-5pm and by appointment. Closed July 4-7. 
Summer Hours: July 12-August 3, Fri-Sat 11am-5pm

The Details
Carol Grillo Gallery at Endicott College
376 Hale Street
Beverly, MA 01915

For more information call 508-879-4200

Show Runs June 5-August 2, 2013
Opening Reception:  Friday, June 14, 2013, 5-8pm
Gallery Hours: Thu-Sun 11am-5pm
Free and Open to the Public

This program is made possible with support from the Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation.

Stacey Alickman, Love is Blue, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches, 2012 (left) and
Lynda Schlosberg, Diffraction, acrylic on panel, 30 x 30 inches, 2012 (right).

I am pleased to announce I will have new work in “All of It,” a two-person exhibition with Stacey Alickman in the Center Gallery at the Kingston Gallery in Boston.

Also showing in the Main Gallery is Sophia Ainslie‘s exhibtion, “in person,” and in the Back Gallery is Elif Soyer‘s exhibition, “Work”

The Details

Kingston Gallery (Center Gallery)
450 Harrison Ave, No. 43
Boston, MA 02118

www.kingstongallery.com
For more information call  617-423-4113.

Google Maps directions

Show runs January 30 – February 24, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, February 1, 2013, 5-7:30pm
Gallery Hours: Wed-Sun 12-5pm and by appointment.

PRESS RELEASE:

BOSTON, MA – January 2013 – Kingston Gallery is pleased to present Stacey Alickman & Lynda Schlosberg, in the artists’ first exhibition with the gallery, in its Center Gallery space from January 30 through February 24. A reception for the public will be held in the gallery on Friday, February 1 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Stacey Alickman’s current project is called “Pulling The Legs Off Bugs Was a Cruel, Harmless Waste of Time.” These paintings reflect her process of exploration and how this phrase has developed visually as well as conceptually. What have emerged are abstract pieces that are textured and rhythmic, densely worked and sculpted. She also became interested in the possibilities of recycling oil paintings by peeling the paint off of its canvas and using the resulting chips for other projects.  These paint-laden chips lend themselves to drawing as well as stacking and assemblage.

Stacey Alickman has been painting and drawing for over twenty years.  She graduated from Brandeis University, studied graphic design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her “Pulling The Legs Off Bugs Project” was successfully funded through USA Projects, Los Angeles, CA in 2012.  Works on paper can also be seen at The Drawing Center, Viewing Program in New York and Carroll and Sons, Drawing Project in Boston.  She works in Somerville, MA.

Lynda Schlosberg creates intricately detailed paintings that combine abstract expressive techniques overlaid by layers of intertwining pattern and color, characterizing a relationship between form and formlessness. Objects emerge and dissipate; layers of data collapse into one another, constructing collaborative spaces of interlacing dimensions. In her paintings line and geometry are woven together constructed of thousands of tiny brushstrokes using opaque, saturated colors. As individual marks assert themselves they are instantaneously absorbed back into the collective, depicting a never-ending cycle, where energy vibrates into form and form breaks down into indiscernible particles of energy; the sum of all its parts creates an ineffable whole.

Lynda Schlosberg’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions regionally, including solo exhibitions at Bentley University and the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Her work has been published in ArtBeat and Studio Visit magazines and reviewed in the Boston Globe. She has lectured on Color in Digital Technology, has taught at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and recently was a guest artist at Southern Maine Community College.  She received her BFA from Ohio University College of Art, and her MFA from the Art Institute of Boston/Lesley University. She currently has a studio in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Kingston Gallery is an artist-run alternative space founded in 1982. The gallery is committed to showing work by emerging and established artists, hosting one-person and group exhibitions by gallery members as well as offering opportunities for non-members via its Center Gallery. The gallery is located in Boston’s historic South End between Harrison Avenue and Albany Street in the vibrant SoWa gallery district.