Gloria Garfinkel creates paintings, prints, and sculptures with saturated colors and vibrant patterning. Garfinkel's work combines complex formal structure and painterly invention, inspired by dynamic geometry and Japanese art and design.
"In 1980, I became, after a trip to Japan, very enchanted with the iconography of that country," says Gloria Garfinkel, "The Kimono in particular was the principal area of my interest. It was in that year I started to do large color etchings and used the kimono fabric motifs as the inspiration in the imagery. I have over the years collected many antique books on kimono patterns and they have served me well not only in etchings, but woodcuts, monoprints, and most especially, in paintings."
Japanese influences can be seen across a range of Garfinkel's works, including the series of Obi paintings and collaged etchings that will be on display at The Ella Sharp Museum. Other works that reflect Japanese culture include the Kiku (Chrysanthemum) painting series and a collection of colorful monoprints.
"In some sense one might say that Garfinkel not only delights in visual pleasure in the making of her work, she delights, wholeheartedly, in optimizing and maximizing the exchange that takes place between the viewer and the object being viewed," says Dominque Nahas. "In so doing, Gloria Garfinkel's joyful vision and embedded sensual expressivity creates a uniquely vibrant and therefore unforgettable experience for the viewer."
Garfinkel has received critical praise for her large scale colored woodcuts and experimentation with paintings fabricated from aluminum that can flip, turn and rotate to reveal new colors and unique configurations. In the 1990s, Garfinkel created a series of Hanabi (Celebration) sculptural triangular maquettes in bold colors and patterns. She is currently working on a cycle of 100 woodcuts each featuring a word, including YES, HELP, and GIVE, and an inventive series of iceberg paintings.
"As an artist, it is both humbling and gratifying that a museum wants to show your work. The gift of an exhibition is that many people will be seeing the inside of your head and how art emerges from a small hint to an idea to a finished project," explains Garfinkel, "The Ella Sharp Museum has provided me this wonderful opportunity and I am excited to be able share my hints, ideas and finished projects with others."
The Gloria Garfinkel exhibition is organized through Katharine T. Carter & Associates and will run through October 11, 2014. The Ella Sharp Museum's gallery hours are Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 to 5:00, Thursday from 10:00 to 7:00 and Friday and Saturday from 10:00 AM 5:00.
For additional information please contact (517) 787-2320 or visit http://ellasharpmuseum.org/.
About The Ella Sharp MuseumThe Ella Sharp Museum opened in 1965 in the 19th century home of Ella Merriman Sharp. Ella willed her 530 acre property to the city of Jackson in 1912, with the understanding that a park and museum be developed for all to enjoy.
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