Each of the artists of 19 on Paper have approached the theme of the exhibition, Memory and Transformation, in a unique way whether it be through subject matter, process or concept.  For some artists, their art preserves personal memories of special places and experiences while for others, the memories are from a distant, cultural or historical past.
The act of creating an image on paper is a transformative one.  In this exhibit are examples of artists transforming reality based experiences into abstract images, transforming visual reality through process or subjective interpretation, or transforming materials from one form to another.
The artists of 19 on Paper invite you to discover their memories and transformations.

Read artist's statements about their work and this theme.

For Marian Wilner, her work is a meditation on time and memory, seeking continuity through personal imagery within a historic context. The juxtaposition of family photographs, world events and popular culture speaks to outer changes and inner connections.
The Discourse expresses the endurance of the human spirit as it is rooted in the memory of the mythologies we have created. Time transforms these themes to insure our continuity. Nocturnal Dreamer references dreams that transform our memories into mysteries and messages. Our thoughts and emotions are seen through the eye of the mind.

Hiorko Shikashio has visited Japan many times.  It was, however, during a recent trip with her ten year old grandson that some of her best memories were made.  Throughout the trip, her experience with her native country was transformed through the eyes of a child as he encountered for the first time the famous sites that were so familiar to her.  The artist captures those encounters in these photographs.

For Sylvia Petrie, trees are a compendium of transformations:  from seed to old age, from season to season, from under the earth to above. Trees are also the material of transformation - into houses, furniture, ships, an ark. Memory is captured in the grain of the wood, in the rings of an old tree.
The torch in her monotype, Prometheus, is a symbol of the god who gave fire to the human race.   Fire is the most transformative element in the world. 

B. L. Green’s  Swan Feather Series from the Seekonk River was inspired by rowing on the river almost every morning and observing over 100 swans and the many feathers of all sizes floating like sails on the dark water.  It is the transformation of feathers from a concerted group that provides lift and flight to a swan and then into an individual object of floating beauty.
The artist gathered these feathers and used them to make nature prints (impressions on paper made using the actual object, ink and a press.)  This process transforms the feather into another object on paper, and in this case a series of artworks all made with the same feather.

Sally Caswell paints nature from location, and as she observes the natural world around her, she cannot but be aware of the transitory aspects of the seasons and the weather and how much they impact her subjects.  On the other hand, she is an observer of those aspects of nature that resist transformation that symbolize the stability of nature, such as rocks and gnarled cypresses.  She is also keenly aware of the genetic memory contained in nature whether it is a butterfly or an eagle, a blade of grass or a tree, each with their unique patterns and identities.

Experiencing other cultures has transformed C.C. Wolf in ways that even she cannot fully understand.  The paintings exhibited here were inspired by a recent trip to Japan.
 In the Philosophers’ Walk, she used her imagination and skill to transform what was an intense travel experience full of new sites, smells, and sounds into a depiction of a quiet contemplative early morning stroll.
The beauty of being by the sea in a traditional Japanese setting, with the view of Mt. Fuji somewhere in the mist was inspiring for the artist.
However, her most vivid memory of Shimizu, Japan was the sight of these wonderful, graceful trees near the water. Hundreds of years old, they were the true inhabitants of the area, bent by the wind but not broken by time. 

By means of drawings, Joan Hausrath transformed her travel experiences in Indonesia into a series of marks that symbolize the sites she visited and the impressions she formed during her trip.  The drawings in her travel journals, full of anecdotal detail, served as source material for these monotype prints that depict her memories with a personal visual vocabulary. 

Mara Metcalf’s artwork is informed by the memories of her childhood immersion in the dramatic vistas of two waterfalls in the Columbia River gorge in Oregon where she grew up. These memories are of the roar of water falling, the smell of damp earth, and the endless motion of water.  The artist has transformed these memories into drawings where the literal image of a waterfall gives way to the force and flow of gravity as the ink moves over the surface of the paper, lending lots of wetness and activity to her remembered waterfalls.

For Michele Provost, every thought exists in the present for a moment then sinks into that vast pool referred to as “Memory.”  It is the allusiveness of memory that fascinates the artist and is alluded to in her drawings.
As you view these drawings, imagine that every memory is a line and envision collections of line/memories in space.  Consider dormant memories, their potential energy waiting to be recalled from the past and how they can transform and influence the present.

In this series of digital images, Kristin S. Street draws from concepts based on the landscape and human figure.  Subtle shifts in value and scale transform simple paper structures into abstracted shapes that reference monumental forms.  A delicate balance of tone works across the surface offering a restful, visual solace or a plunge into darkness, while still recalling the grand scale from whence they were drawn.

Rebecca Simmering takes her materials right off the street from a daily walk in her neighborhood. For the last two years, she has collected losing scratch tickets she has found and has transformed them into objects that comment on the state of the economy and the want of "the good life." By means of accumulation and the time it takes her to collect them, she transforms something ordinary into a wish of something desired.