AiR Studio Gallery - February Show

Creating & Curating Contemporary Art for the Community

Myths and Realities - February 2nd - February 25th

Opening Reception - Friday February 2nd, 5-8pm
AiR is please to present it’s 10th Exhibition, Myths and Realities opening on Friday February 2. A collaboration between guest curator and January artist in resident Shari Weschler, a MICA graduate and Providence based artist who has paired her work alongside the stone carvings of Elizabeth Lind, an MAT graduate of RISD. Both artists work explores Female worlds and form through Myths and realities. They currently share a studio at The Mill at Shady Lea in North Kingstown.

View Press Release here

Conversations with Artists.Event
Sunday February 25, 4-5pm,
AiR Studio Gallery
 
Please join us  for an afternoon of creative conversation with artists Shari Weschler and Elizabeth Lind. Facilitated by artist Meredith LeBlanc, the artists will share insights about their creative process and inspiration behind their work in our current show Myths & Realities. 
 
We hope you can joins us. Space is limited so please do RSVP below.
Light refreshments will be available.

Shari Weschler 

Selected Works

Shari Weschler's, work fluctuates between a more detailed realism and orderliness, to a fantastically wild and intuitive approach. The latter brings a sense of centering to her life that has been in transition for the past several years.
 
The intention behind her work is to express direct and raw emotions that people can connect to on a deep subconscious level. While she draws upon personal experiences, she bears witness to global issues and manipulates her medium to reveal our universal shadows through the playful inner child. The most current body of work is immediate and unplanned – colorful and assertive. She utilizes a spray bottle with water in one hand and brushes in the other, often ditching them to employ both hands ambidextrously, shifting paint with her fingertips. Her process is a solitary dance to music, channeling memories, emotions, and mythologies. Often, she will spend hours working and reworking a surface, only to destroy and abandon everything and stick a landing in the final half hour of a long day’s efforts.

About Shari

Shari Weschler, branded as Sumo Bunni, is an American figural narrative painter, illustrator and photographer who exhibits nationally and internationally. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art, with concentration in painting and art history. While attending MICA she studied drawing, printmaking, and gelatin silver photography. Her exhibition history includes over thirty solo and forty group shows and has been published extensively.

She was the founder, owner and director of Coastal Contemporary Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island. which won Best Of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Monthly 2021 for Contemporary Gallery. Weschler has served in various positions including board member, curator, juror, consultant and portfolio reviewer for other prestigious galleries, associations, and collaboratives. Residing in Providence, RI, she is currently offering private artist coaching services such as writing, installations, archiving, studio visits and portfolio reviews.

Elizabeth Lind

Selected Works

Elizabeth’s work centers on the figure and its environment, whether real or imagined. Inspired by the timeless beauty of the female form, She explores the context of the female experience - the world and atmosphere in which women live. Fascinated by ancient cultures and the endurance of myths and symbols, Elizabeth explore contemporary rites and rituals within the context of time.
 
Drawn to illumination, and transparency expressed through stone. I'm a direct carver- no power tools, or preliminary maquettes and exploring the interior of a beautiful stone. She listens to the sounds from the chisel's tip to cue the process. It's a process of exploring layers, and the illumination accentuates the process.
 
As a sculptor Elizabeth gravitates to the concrete presence of three-dimensional form. Exploring the sensuality and timelessness of being female. The incorporation of symbols provides a unique language to express emotions, sexuality, relationships, vulnerability, and strength. Working mainly in stone she is in love with the fluid nature of direct carving – she searches for forms under the skin of the stone’s surface and working slowly and patiently towards a simple elegance.

About Elizabeth​

Originally from Seattle, Elizabeth Lind grew up in New York City where she studied and performed ballet.  Studies in studio art led to figure sculpture and eventually the ownership of a bronze casting foundry in South Carolina.  Relocating to Rhode Island, she earned an MAT from the Rhode Island School of Design while also managing an art gallery.
 
She has maintained a sculpture studio since finding her passion for carving while studying at RISD. Employing simple hand tools- a mallet and steel chisels, Lind carves life-size alabaster, marble, and limestone figures of women and their environments- either real or imagined. Mixed media and found objects are also used to create a visual poetry, reflecting the natural world.