The public is invited to a reception at Art/Place Gallery on May 17 at 2 to 5 pm for “Layers”, the paintings of Phyllis Peckar Clamage and Florence Zolan. The artists will talk about their work at the reception. The show will run from May 7 to June 7 at 70 Sanford Street, Fairfield. See www.artplacegallery.org or call (203) 292-8328.
Stratford resident Phyllis Peckar Clamage will be showing recent monoprints. Her artistic development began with a papermaking love affair. She studied at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Parsons School of Design, did independent research on papermaking in Japan and studied printmaking at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking. Early on, she made her own paper and used it to create one-of-a-kind books and constructions. The work was so successful, she was soon teaching bookmaking and bookbinding in workshops.
Clamage is the recipient of numerous awards. Her work has been exhibited widely at venues, including the Aldrich Museum, Silvermine Guild (where she is a life member), the Bruce Museum, the Brookfield Craft Center, Boston Symphony Hall, the Jacob Javits Center, the Contemporary Craft Museum of N.Y. and the Greenwich Art Society. She has also taught or lectured at the Aldrich, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the New York Botanical Gardens. Her work is in many corporate and private collections.
Today, she draws, paints and prints on paper and silk. Her latest explorations use double monoprints on silk organza with French and Japanese papers. Some are framed and some are hung on plexiglas rods to highlight their shimmering, translucent colors—creating layered effects impossible to produce using single sheets. Her work is abstract with lines, arcs and geometric shapes overlapping clear, bright and joyful colors.
She says, “Printing on silk organza is a little like handling phyllo dough. It is responsive to the touch, and has a mind of its own. Nevertheless, when I print on the material, it reminds me of the handmade paper I made many years ago. I like the fragility of the material and it has a love of ink! My own love of geometric lines and shapes allows me to ‘play’ with color combinations that are unexpected. So the strategy is planned, but the results are often random. The translucence of the fabric is delicious, with a dialogue between the work I do and what the work wants to look like. It feels like it want to play its own melody and I just listen.”
Zolan taught school in New Rochelle and later, taught print classes at the Museum of Modern Art. She is a founding member of Art/Place Gallery in Fairfield, is on the curatorial committee of the Kershner Gallery of the Fairfield Public Library and is a member of the Westport Art Center and the WAC Collective. She exhibits statewide in juried and invitational shows, and is represented in corporate and private collections throughout the U S.
Zolan says, “My work is about relationships, both actual and implied in the arrangements of form, object and color. Forms are in front, behind, touching, nudging, alone. I enjoy working with contrasts. A smooth surface against rough, patterns next to solids, soft edges as well as sharp. These effects are expressed in various media: oil, collage, pastel, various forms of printmaking, or a combination of these. I strive to interpret ideas by exploring the use of these media forms. This often leads to discovery, and an element of surprise.”