Past Exhibitions (2012)

Zachary Jackson’s work stems from a fascination with human reactions, both mentally and physically, to ideas of stress and tension.  Referencing his own experiences as well as those gathered from interviews with others his work creates a dialogue for these, often unrecognized, occurrences.

Recently Jackson has begun focusing on the rigidity and stiffness that can occur as a reaction to a stressful environment.  Using cast plastic and screen-printed fiberglass, he is capturing the unseen manifestations of tension as it relates to our personal space.

Each piece is a conglomeration of several different ideas of stress. Often during conversations it becomes apparent that bases of tension cross paths between multiple individuals. The evidence of the evolution of stress between different people can be seen in the differences between my pieces. Jackson’s collection of anxieties grow daily as he continues conversations with others as well as attempting to make sense of his own relationship to anxiety.

Visit his website at www.zacjackson.com.

Infinite Set is a series of works depicting female forms floating in a space of nothingness. It is impossible to completely and precisely understand the body and mind—even our own. Enormous number of cells, knowing their roles, support life by continuously repeating birth and death, while our minds create rich and endless worlds of emotion and imagination. Nitta expresses existence as an unstable cluster drawn from an infinite set, or as something that goes beyond the boundaries of being a cluster. She also wishes to show the uncertainty of existence—the existence which is as obscure and unreliable as our recognition and memory.

Nitta was born in Nara Japan and has studied at University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Corcoran College of Art and Design, and Tama Art University in Tokyo Japan, where she received her BFA. She has had multiple shows in Japan including Yuka Tsuruno Gallery and the Tokyo International Airport where she showed Infinite Set I and II.

Please visit her website at www.tomomi-nitta.com.

Miori Inata graduated from the Fine Arts University in Japan and began working in Japan as a Fine Arts teacher. In 1991, she moved to New York City where she settled for the next seventeen years. By living in New York, Inata was exposed to the essence of art in sheer abundance, a mass variety of mediums and methods which awakened her as an artist. 

In 2001, Inata witnessed the tragedy of 9/11 from her apartment window. These grotesque acts of terrorism made her contemplate what elements are behind the directions human beings choose, which paths the Gods around the world direct us as individuals. Inata wanted to stand in places of prayer to understand this path of life. She visited many holy places around the world, taking photographs of each location with the pursuit of finding answers.  During her visit to The Ise Shrine of Japan, Inata came to the realization that human beings have been supported by nature itself and that the deep reverence for nature has fostered a quiet feeling of deep understanding; a sense of harmony and peace. Since this conclusion, Miori Inata has been photographing of the Ise Shrine as her primary subject for her work.

When Gakudou Ozaki learned that the First Lady Helen Taft wanted to plant a cherry tree in Washington D.C. 100 years ago, he immediately established the connection between The District of Columbia’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival and The Ise Shrine of Japan, his former home. Inata simultaneously reacted toward this undeniable connection through her photography. This exhibition highlights the distinct connection between the two nations and examines each region’s mutual respect of the cherry blossom.

This exhibition is brought to you in part by Sonoko Kudo, Director of the Japan Cherry Blossom Association as well as Gakaudou Ozaki.

To view more of Inata's work, visit www.mioriinata.com.

An enduring commitment to sculpture accompanies Rachel Rotenberg throughout her life. Her sculptures are stories of a life rooted in wood. When people engage with her sculptures, she feels connected to the larger world through the simple presence of the wood tooled into shapes previously unimagined, and her personal story falls away. What remains is something universal, that speaks truthfully, no matter how dissimilar the outer trappings of our lives.

Her primary material is cedar wood beacuse she is attarcted to its pliability, color, texture, earthy smell, and its simple beauty. Using a variety of machinery and hand tools, she cuts, glues, clamps and dowels the wood to create a dialogue between materials and forms.

Please visit www.rachelrotenberg.com for more information about her work.

As a closeted young boy, Daniel Venne secretly drew his own erotic pictures. Feelings of shame then drove him to unceremoniously destroy the same images with fire. Nothing could be left of the pleasure he could not reconcile, no trace that he had used some "God-given gift" to give life to his desire for men.

This is an exhibit of drawings inspired by online gay hookup sites. These works reflect the poses and presentations of men who are "Looking For Now"—urgently and guilefully seeking sexual contact with other men. From the early days of America Online "M4M" chat rooms to the no-strings smartphone apps Scruff and Grindr, technology has changed the way that men present images of themselves as available sex players. Fantasy is offered alongside prosaic realities, and isolated images collectively give voice to a community, a neighborhood of vulnerable men trying to find a way to connect with other men. The drawings, executed in watercolor on tea-stained paper, present men through Venne's eyes and hand. They are part erotica, part anthropological study, and part self-portrait.

Please visit www.danielvenne.com for more information about her work.

Zazenski's work explores the inherent and applied complexity and possibility that exists within words. It focuses on the dynamics of emotion through which we develop relationships and define, categorize, and relate abstract notions. It is about exploring a new visual system for the written word and creating the opportunity to re-see and experience these symbols in new ways that highlights their inherent fragility and mutability. This work is part of a greater investigation into both the conscious and subconscious influences on our thoughts and movements, inspired by the cultural and societal tendencies that shape language and communication.

Please visit www.cargocollective.com/kathrynzazenski for more information about her work.

Holtry's paintings depict animals that few people appreciate, such as hyenas, insects, and rats. Often wondering why it is that people advocate equality between humans, yet so freely discriminate in our opinions of animals, her work addresses our prejudicial attitudes toward these animals. Holtry's inspiration also comes from an ongoing interest in the decorative arts and textiles.

Please visit www.elizabethholtry.com for more information about her work.

Photography is a toll for Myers, that he uses to explore surroundings and better understand observations made along the way. Confined: Visual Synonyms, is an example of a portfolio of images materializig after working on a theme, unkowingly, for alomst a year. The images are more mere documentation; they have a clear sense of showing a perspective of what Myers saw in the camera's viewfinder. The work is therefore documenting underlying and not yet, well understood perconceptions of zoos and aquariums and our interaction with the animals housesed within their confines.

Please visit www.davidmyersimages.com for more information about his work.

Lucinda Murphy has been fascinated by science and the process of evolution, from the Big Bang to computers. Change seems to be the only constant. This passion has led her to explore through some of the unanswered questions in science.

Most recently, Murphy has focused on exploring order and chaos from both the scientific sense and in the sense of how we perceive the difference; literally and psychologically. Agnes Martin, an American abstract painter, suggests that "art is a record of mindfulness." Murphy likes to think that her work will increase the "mindfulness" of those who pause to look at it.

Murphy is a Washington, D.C. native. The first 20 years of her adult career, Murphy was a landscape architect. At age 40, she returned to school to study art at the Corcoran School of Art and American University. Her work has also been highly influenced byher travels and studies in China, Mexico and the former Czechoslovakia.

You can view more of her work at www.lucindafriendlymurphy.com.

On a broad universal level, Monica Stroik's paintings reflect the fact that each of us makes daily choices, some conscious and others unconscious, which all have consequences. Those areas that are in more focus versus those parts that are more hazy or unclear define this breadth of awareness. The effect of these choices may cause us to change direction or confirm the direction we are already pointed towards.

On a personal level, these paintings are specifically tied to an experience that happened many years ago, the effect of which affects Stroik on an almost daily basis, the degree to which is tied to the choices she makes. The more aware she has become the less noticeable are the effects experienced on a daily basis. However, the hazy parts of her paintings display the irony that she can never fully be in control of the effects of her choices because of the damage the cause created. So, infused within this dichotomy of conscious and unconscious is that mysterious notion of that which is totally out of her control.

Monica Stroik was born in Philadelphia, PA but grew up in Reston, VA and is currently residing in Baltimore, MD where she is working on her MFA at the Mount Royal School of Art of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She received her BA in Studio Art from Mary Washington University and an MAT (Masters of Arts in Teaching) from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Last December, Stroik finished a six-year studio residency at the Arlington Arts Center in Virginia. During this time, she was also a secondary art education teacher for the Arlington Public Schools.

You can view more of her work at www.monicastroik.com.