PRESS RELEASE
JRB ART AT THE ELMS Presents
“DREAMS AND MEMORIES:” Visual Narratives by Catherine Adams,
Sara Scribner, Shane Scribner, and Bernadette Torres in April
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma---JRB Art at The Elms presents “Dreams and Memories,’’ featuring solo exhibitions by four artists. These visual narrative exhibitions open with a reception from 6:00 to 10:00 pm on Friday, April 5, 2013, during The Paseo’s First Friday Gallery walk and run through Sunday, April 29th.
Stories are integral to human culture. Since the beginning of civilization they have been used to convey information, ideas, and cultural wisdom. In its April exhibit, JRB ART at The Elms presents four master story tellers who share their memories and dreams through photographs, drawings, paintings, and ceramic sculptures.
Catherine Adams, who uses a 19th century printing process to handprint traditional black and white images examining public spaces, gardens, and art, will be exhibiting a series of photographs of the secret gardens of Paris. Catherine’s photographs and accompanying narratives allow us to explore the intimate and hidden landscapes of Paris, the most photographed city in the world. “Spending time in European gardens, museums, and palaces have colored how I see the world. A decade ago, I began to recompose photographic elements of the real world into narrative and decorative tableaux,” states Adams. Her photographs have won awards, been published in “Black and White Magazine,” and been exhibited in juried, curated and solo shows.
Sara and Shane Scribner, husband and wife, met while studying at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Since her youth Sara has had a fascination for imaginative fanciful tales. She began drawing at an early age, and her artistic interests have always focused on the human figure. Her portraits honor classical figurative painting techniques, but employ a whimsical narrative that compels the viewer to weave a story around the sitter. “I find myths and folktales that use flora and fauna in their allegories. When combined with realism the paintings speak a language that has been used by painters and poets for centuries. I like the idea that there are magical things happening around my subject. That they have a personal connection to an animal, a place, a season, and that they are willing to entrust their secret to the viewer and let them, just briefly, into their world,” comments Sara. For Shane Scribner the human form is the most basic and yet the most expressive of subjects. When speaking about his work he says that he enjoys “finding a pose that describes the feeling I am in search of, and rendering the figure to the best of my ability.” He then likes to begin abstracting the figure by “reducing its edges into the nothingness of a flat white plane and playing with the resulting juxtaposition.”
Bernadette Esperanza Torres is a ceramic artist who holds a MFA from the University of Miami in Florida as well as a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. In talking about her work Bernadette says, “As a storyteller I communicate with my hands translating stories into clay. My sculptures are autobiographical narratives with animal imagery, such as Java Sparrow Finch birds as symbols of humanity, facets of myself or of others. As the daughter of a florist, flowers are intrinsic to my sculptures they create a dialogue internal to my work. My sculptures serve as spirit guides that manifest intentions, relieve anxieties and whisper secrets.” Bernadette, who lives and works in Kansas City, also cites her Mexican and Italian heritage as impetus for her storytelling.
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JRB Art at The Elms presents a diverse roster of emerging, established, and internationally exhibited artists who create in a wide range of media including: paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, glass, fine crafts, functional objects, fiber art and photographs. This 8,000 square foot award-winning gallery in Oklahoma City’s Paseo Arts District changes its exhibits monthly in a gracious environment that fosters a dialogue between the arts and the larger community while providing quality art for first time buyers as well as individual, corporate and museum collections.
JRB Art at The Elms, the former studio residence of Nan Sheets which was built in 1920, is located at 2810 North Walker and is open Monday through Saturday, 10-6, and Sunday, 1-5.
Phone: (405) 528-6336 Website: www.jrbartgallery.com Email: info@jrbartgallery.com