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Tina Vietmeier + Catherine DudleyPost an Event »

Andrea Schwartz Gallery

June 11 - July 27, 2008

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525 2nd Street San Francisco, CA 94107
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Tina Vietmeier + Catherine Dudley
Tina Vietmeier mixed media & wax on paper "This new series continues to be a response to the world around me and reflects my interests in energy, consciousness, place, our common humanity and my love of the nature. In particular this series is an accumulation over the last few years of all the imagery that has resonated with me through the media and otherwise on a daily basis to do with the developing realizations of “Global Warming”- the environmental and social changes we are experiencing and what is occurring in the North and South Poles. I gradually became consumed with the topic of the “Polar Melt Down”, one of many headlines that stuck in my mind from the news. I started to collect imagery from newspaper articles and books, movies and TV documentaries, to deriving inspiration from the endless stream of conversations with close friends and family about the global environmental and social realities we are all living. I felt that there was a lot to contemplate and interpret in creating a visual dialogue that makes a connection between our social psychological landscape and the landscape of the North and South poles beyond the obvious. As I went along I couldn’t help but also dream about the extreme environment of the polar landscape; the light, the silence, the ice, and the adventure as I realized my developing desire to want to travel there even though somehow it seems wrong to want to. It is also about taking a moment to stop and consider what nature has to teach us in reflecting on our lives; in better understanding who we are as human beings, our relationships to each other, and our place in the world. I think ultimately the result of the work probably expresses something more closely that is deeply felt rather than having any one particular message and perhaps is a tale of cautious optimism in celebrating the mystery, struggle and vitality of life for what it is?" Catherine Dudley mixed media collage on panel The gallery is also featuring the work of emerging artist Catherine Dudley. Dudley’s background is in printmaking, evident through her use of screen prints combined with found papers in her mixed media collages. The pieces are often embellished with nails or brads hammered into the surface. Her chosen imagery features natural elements like plant-based forms juxtaposed with linear and man-made shapes. "As an artist it is my nature to observe, express, and share my environment, and for me, this process is the force that drives my need to create. I find inspiration on a daily basis by extracting visual elements from my surroundings. I find them in the simplest architectural forms, repetition occurring in nature, and in the wide range of color and texture that exists in the urban landscape. I collect these visual elements and work them into my art through photography, stenciling, screenprinting, and finally collage. Evolution is the center point of my process. I achieve this through intuitive and recurrent construction, deconstruction and recombination of materials and imagery. I feel the work is a success when the end result becomes something my audience can connect with in a familiar or nostalgic way."