For Immediate Release For Further Information, please
contact ROLE OF ART IN THE QUEST FOR ENLIGHTENMENT Woodbury, CT - “Piercing the Veil” opens Wed., Aug. 9th and runs through Sept. 17th at Fenn Gallery. On exhibit will be oil paintings by Tina Sotis and alabaster sculpture by Louise Porter-Hahn. The public is invited to meet the artists at the Opening Reception from 4-6 pm on Sat., Aug. 12th. Just as dreams can reveal truths otherwise buried when we are awake, so too can art tap into unreality to bring something new to light. Both artists in this show work at the convergence of abstraction and realism to reveal us to ourselves. Sotis paints spare interiors and stark scenes with minimal distraction to free the way for the viewer’s entry. Her nearly deserted streets and empty rooms, which nonetheless hold clues to their absent inhabitants, are abstractions of a reality we can all recognize. The well balanced compositions draw us in with immediately recognizable imagery, an open window or a billowing curtain; but the abstract presentation of space and color, and the haunting stillness of the scenes invite deeper contemplation. There is a fleeting sense that some unseen drama is about to unfold, and often the most important thing her work portrays is what is not there. Sotis uses metaphor for human presence; thus a fluttering sheet represents expectation and a mirror suggests infinity, or prompts a viewer’s reflection. Houses stand in for the subconscious with its windows and doors a way to see in and out of oneself. Influenced by the surrealists, and the cinematography of directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Sotis draws upon the mystery and voyeurism portrayed in films from that era in her use of light, space and a sense of something unseen. In “Letters to My Father” a brightly lit cluster of houses stand in a meadow. The blustery wind has the grass swirling, doors ajar, window shades askew. Between and around the houses, small pieces of note paper are in various stages of flight. Her soft transitions in light, color and edge gently lull you into the turbulent environment, while the redemptive pastel sky beyond offers repose. Also on display are the small scale alabaster sculptures
of Bethlehem, CT resident Louise Porter-Hahn. Her sculptures range
from abstract to loosely figurative depictions of mother and child,
or figures in thought or at rest. Without the use of any power tools,
she gently coaxes graceful curves and life from the soft, richly
hued stone. The subject, gesture and pose in her work address such
human universalities as birth, transition and “the inner empty
spaces”. She achieves a visual tension in her work through
the interplay of negative and positive spaces. “First Movement”
is an abstract piece in a graceful curvilinear shape in cream and
rose tones which simultaneously suggests softness, strength and
kinetic energy. Each stone is unique in color and striation, and
come from many regions of the US. Porter-Hahn has a B.A. in Fine
Art, and an M.S. in Art Therapy. She is currently an art instructor
at Long Meadow Elementary School in Middlebury, CT.
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