Naturally Abstract
October 30 – December 28 2024
Opening Reception:
Friday, November 15th
5:00 pm- 8:00pm
Green Door Art Gallery presents our newest art exhibit, Naturally Abstract. This exhibit features sculptures by Lisa Hilton, jewelry by Joe Bova Conti, and paintings by De’Joneiro Jones, Sheldon Johnson, Eve Bayer, and Suzy Farren. The artwork will be on display and available for sale October 30 – December 28, 2024.
Join us for the opening reception on Friday November 15, 2024 5:00 – 8:00 pm
Green Door Art Gallery’s 36 resident artists will also be exhibiting and selling artwork including fused glass, mosaics, watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, collage, mixed media, wood, pottery, textile art, jewelry and more.
Green Door Art Gallery is located at 21 N. Gore in Old Webster Groves.
Hours: Wednesday thru Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
www.greendoorartgallery.com
(314) 202-4071
My sculptures are built hollow, using small slabs pieced together. I refine each piece with additive and reductive techniques. Since I don’t use an armature, I carefully support the work throughout the drying and firing process to prevent cracks, part loss, and warping. Clay supports are added for stability and discarded after firing.
After the initial bisque firing at 1,850°F, I apply various finishes. The piece is then fired again, typically at 2,170°F. It can take up to four firings to complete a piece.
Experimentation with the medium is key to my process. I am always learning from the clay.
Figures
Surface variation, texture, and gesture are the expressive avenues I use to depict the layers of complexity inherent in each of us. My work is influenced by the intersection of life experiences and perception. Individuals possess unique combinations of characteristics—physical traits, talents, motivation, beliefs, goals, and fears. Added to these are familial, educational, and cultural influences creating individualized life experiences. I’m intrigued by how these life stories shape perception, ultimately influencing the interpretation of art.
Abstracted figures
Surface variation, texture, and gesture are the expressive avenues I use to depict the layers of complexity inherent in each of us. In this body of work, the figure is pared down to an almost vessel-like gestural body, recognizable as such only by the abstracted head. Through the subtle suggestion of a figure, the gesture becomes a narrative tool for personal interpretation and connection.
Lisa Hilton - sculpture
Bio
My path to becoming a clay sculptor has been unconventional. Creativity has always been a part of me, but I initially pursued a career in the actuarial field due to my proficiency in math. While rewarding, it didn’t fulfill a deeper, unspoken need. When I began my family, I focused on domestic projects like education, cooking, gardening, decorating, and volunteering.
When my children were in high school, I contemplated my next steps. Of all the possible choices, art was the only one that reached into my soul. I returned to college and earned my BFA. Touching clay felt like coming home. Although I enjoyed all the other mediums, I felt a different connection to clay. Its various stages of development provide an endless array of challenges.
Suzy Farren -mixed media paintings
It never occurred to me that one day I would make things.
After a career as a writer, I began to express myself visually, first with fiber and later with paint and collage. For years my work was characterized by grays, rusts and browns, the colors of the New Jersey countryside I had roamed as a child. But when the pandemic forced us inside, the longer I stayed isolated the more colorful my palette became. At first I was perplexed by the bright yellows, blues, reds and oranges of my new work.
Eventually I realized the pandemic had taken me deeper – deeper than things
remembered– to a time long ago when every day was new and all the world was a place of wonder.
Impulsiveness and spontaneity characterize my work. Whether I’m scraping acrylic onto (or off) canvas, piecing together tiny scraps of found cloth, or shaping small cloth vessels in the palm of my hand, nothing is planned. I stumble on a scrap, and the painting I was working on is forgotten as I contemplate. A book? A vessel? A collage? I never know until I’m doing it.
Bio
I was born in New York City and grew up in the New Jersey countryside. After a stint in publishing in New York City, I moved to St. Louis in 1979 and continued my career as a writer. Among my writing achievements is the book “A Call to Care, The Women Who Built Catholic Healthcare” and the accompanying Emmy-Award winning documentary.
Since venturing into the world of art around 2011, my work has been in some 75 shows nationally and has received a variety of awards.
Eve Bayer - Mixed Media Paintings
My work is inspired primarily by what I see in nature, which I reimagine expressionistically, incorporating paint, charcoal, pastel, wax, and organic materials, in a studied and deliberate process.
I layer, add, subtract, contemplate and revisit, until only the finest, most deliberate marks remain to be made or the last piece of material remains to be added. My formal art studies are through Washington University, Saint Louis, and the School of Visual Arts in New York. I live and work primarily in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Sheldon Johnson - paintings
De'Joneiro Jones - mixed media paintings
Joe Bova Conti - jewelry
Joe Bova Conti is a local artist, designer and craftsman. Joe attended Fontbonne College on an art scholarship beginning in 1975. He has apprenticed with master jewelers and worked with Native American Craftsman for over 2 decades. All the work here is completely handmade without modern casting tools. The pieces are cut out, forged, filed, hammered and assembled into wearable pieces of art. Each piece is individually made by Joe. The inspiration for his pieces can be found in nature. Many pieces are reminders of landscapes and the beauty of our world. Joe has traveled extensively through the United States and Europe. The stones used are all natural and from ethically sourced locations all over the globe, some being quite rare and all unique.
Joe works out of a private studio and shows his work through venues such as this one.
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