SecondRiverStudio

© Copyright Second River Studio

Paradise in the Balance
Dadian Gallery
Wesley Theological Seminary
Washington, D.C. 20016

January 22 - March 12, 2010
Artist Talk & Reception Feb 11 at noon

This exhibit reflects my life experiences with the land. While pairing light bulbs with bones, forks with birds, and Christmas lights with asthma inhalers I fashion a language of symbols that tell a story. Each ink/watercolor drawing or collage is built around these real or symbolic objects. They may seem unrelated to each other, but actually reflect the increasing impact of humankind upon Earth's living biospheres, which The Creator of All so deliberately and magnanimously designed throughout the eons.

In some works, a written litany of endangered or extinct species are my lament for all the creatures great and small that humankind has so casually abandoned in our pursuit of alternative paradises. Finely honed technique and a strong concern for the environment pair up with a personality characterized by a questioning bent and a sense of humor to form these surreal pictures; stories of the American landscape and our disconnects-connections to it. The fun for me is in trying out unusual combinations of forms and solving the mysteries of the links between them. I hope viewers will see themselves in the River of Life Runs Through Me portion and recognize questions posed in the other pictures, questions that ask each of us how we are called to be responsible stewards of the wonderful, but rapidly diminishing Web of Life.

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"Paradise Squandered"
August 16 – October 5, 2008

Drawings, Collages & Prints August 16-October 5, 2008 Church of the Pilgrims Gallery 2201 P Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 Weekdays by appointment Sunday after 11 am services 202-387-6612

"The Garden of Eden: Paradise Squandered"
April 12 – June 3, 2009

Drawings, Collages & Prints April 12-June 3, 2009 John Calvin Presbyterian Church 6531 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003 Sundays after services and weekdays by appointment 703-256-3644

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This Land, Our Land
October 10 – November 4, 2007

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our heart away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
–William Wordsworth-

Wordsworth’s poem describes my state of mind after spending two years constructing the works for this show. While the poem reflects the emotions I sometimes felt while pairing light bulbs with bones, forks with purses, and Christmas lights with asthma inhalers, the process itself was more tranquil, more therapeutic. Each work is built around real or symbolic objects that seem unrelated to each other, but which reflect the impact of humankind upon our land. The process of constructing drawings and sculpture was far from disheartening because I found much joy in combining unusual forms and identifying shared themes among disparate objects. My sense of humor slips in at the same time I ask viewers to open their mind to the questions I raise in each surreal story about the American landscape.

Touchstone Gallery
406 7th St. NW, 2nd FL
Washington, DC 20004
202-347-2787
www.touchstonegallery.com

Artwork and Designs © Copyright 2006 Second River Studio.
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