OSilas Gallery Opening Reception

I'm one of those people who has been creative my whole life but is still reluctant to call myself an artist.  But Thursday night at the opening of the "Summer ARTiculated" show at the OSilas Gallery, they gave me this nametag to wear, and I finally felt like one!  The room was buzzing with conversation when we arrived and we began to work our way down to where my piece was hung at the far end of the room.  Once we got there, a complete stranger noticed my nametag and stopped to ask me about my piece, how I created it, what were my underlying ideas.  What a trip!

It was suspended from the ceiling and I have to admit, it really made quite an impact floating there at the end of the room. I was very pleased and humbled at the same time.

I also felt a bit overwhelmed to be included in a group of such accomplished artists.  There was a great variety of styles and media, from oils and acrylics...

to paper collage, sculpture, photography and other fiber art, and each one was impressive.  Unfortunately, my daughters were in possession of the camera, and I did not get shots of any of the pieces I found most remarkable, nor was I able to spend time noting each artist and the names of the pieces (shame on me, I know!)!  For a complete list of participating artists, please click here.

But I did note the name of the artist who created these interesting bowl sculptures.  Her name is Xia Gao and these are part of her "Binary World" collection.  Each one was made up of numbers connected together with simple metal links.  The total effect was stunning.

She also did these pieces that were made entirely of straight pins inserted into the canvas.  As you can see in the photos, she created light and shadow with the intricate placement of the many pins.  The lower photo shows a close-up of the portrait.  Amazing!

My friends Vivien Zepf and Natalya Aikens had work accepted also, but alas, no photos!  If you live in the New York area, it's worth a trip to Concordia College to see the show, which will be up until August 10th.