Synthesis

Synthesis

Six artists, three couples have converged on a singular topic: collaboration.
How does a partnership in life complement a partnership of art under the same roof? We have seen the predictable symbiosis of a muse and artist relationship, but what has been explored of the dynamic between artists of their own right living together? What does the tertiary component of art add to love and work? Each couple has been asked to create a special collaborative work for this exhibition in addition to showing their own work in order to examine the synthesis of what happens when two people partner to create.

“The intellect of man is forced to choose- perfection of the life or of the work.” W.B. Yeats

Bodo Korsig is a professor at the European Academy of Fine Art in Trier, Germany, an expert printmaker, sculptor, and an author with a keen interest in neuroscience. Much like the brain, his work Hidden Mind, explores the spaces between fierce, fragile, and the unknown. The organic yet abstract forms beg the viewer to question what is resembled in the abstraction. The intersections of art, science, philosophy, and the human element surround his work- each leaving a distinct gesture in a color or a shape.
Chikako Kato, originally from Japan now makes her home with Bodo in Germany. In Synthesis, her drawings feature a singular repetitive object that when joined with other like objects behave like stars in constellations to form complex bodies. The subjects are recognizable and whimsical, but the depth is much greater. Their size is deceptive as what may appear to be small can occupy a much greater significance.

Cathy Cunningham-Little of San Antonio has created a light composition for Synthesis utilizing a three dimensional box created from glass. She paints her canvas (the wall) with light and plays with perceptions of reality. What appears calculated may be random and what is random may be calculated. The absence of light is just as important as the presence of light- the combination of colors is just as important as the color being refracted by the light to reflect the hue that the brain perceives.
Ken Little is a professor of Art and Sculpture at the University of Texas at San Antonio and works in a variety of materials including bronze and mixed media. His endearing mammal featured at Cinnabar is made from the discarded memories of school kids and adults. Repurposed shoes and leather items find their way back to the origin only to be put back on the wall as a trophy. His work begs the question- is this a whimsical satire on the cycle of life or an analysis of memories conscious and otherwise?

Carol Robertson lives and works in London and is a former research fellow in painting at the Cardiff School of Art & Design from 2003-2008 and returning fellow at the Ballingen Arts Foundation in Ireland. Utilizing on the gentle geometry of the idealized perfection of a circle Star Time questions the opposition of work and life. The complete circles envelope with ease the mirrored arcs that oppose one another. Her strokes of deliberate and thoughtful contrasting colors suggest a resemblance life and the powerful emotional oppositions it can present.
Trevor Sutton lives and works in London. He went to art school in the 1960’s, graduating with a post-graduate diploma in 1972. He has from the outset, remained a non-figurative painter and printmaker. In addition to working in London he has taken up many residencies and fellowships abroad, most recently in France and Ireland. His work is exhibited worldwide but his strongest links outside the UK are with Japan, Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Sutton was a Senior Lecturer in Painting at Chelsea School of Art & Design from 1973 to 2000 and a Research Fellow there from 2000 to 2003. Featured at Cinnabar is Shadow Site, a diptych of oil and pencil on board. The grid for him becomes a structural component- his gestures of color must coexist in this rigid environment. Abstractly reminiscent of notes on a musical staff, the hues are thoughtful and intentional, but they are not static. Like the notes on the staff, the grid restrains the visual area, but the colors transcend beyond the space like a kind of visual music once they are viewed.